The Next Life
by Miss Southern Belle
Summary: Twenty years ago Sookie disappeared without a trace, leaving her Louisiana and its supernatural world behind. But now she's back and has a lot of explaining to do. Can she pick up where she left off or are some wounds too deep for time to heal?
1. Chapter One

A few key facts to keep in mind while reading.

One: This assumes every book through 8 (including the short stories, especially "Gift Wrap"). While I have taken the first chapter of Dead & Gone into account I have greatly altered what happens through that first chapter. So I guess you could consider this AU. Sorta.

Two: Most of the story takes place in the year 2024.

Three: This will contain spoilers for the short story "Gift Wrap".

See you at the end! Happy reading!

* * *

This was something that should have taken months of meticulous planning to figure out. Every detail should have been hammered out, have blood and sweat poured into, to insure that everything would work out just fine. This was something that needed to go over smoothly. This was not something that should have been done on a whim.

But that is exactly what Sookie Stackhouse did.

At that moment she didn't have weeks or months to spend making preparations. She only had a few days to accomplish what she needed to get done and by george that was exactly what she did. Her flight mechanism had kicked in and she had followed it as far as it would carry her. She didn't know where she was going or how long it would take to get there but she knew one thing for sure:

She had to get the hell out of Bon Temps, Louisiana.

And that was exactly what she did; tears streaming down her face the entire way.

**The Next Life  
Chapter One: Homecoming**

For twenty years the Stackhouse homestead had stood in silence, abandoned by the bloodline that had built it over one hundred years before. The last owner, Sookie Stackhouse, had disappeared almost two decades ago, leaving no details about where she was going or why, she simply vanished without a trace.

Ever since it was used as a memorial to her by all of those who cared for her. This was their shrine, the last solid piece of evidence that she had ever been there at all. The few who had been inside said there were still traces of her scent lingering in the wood of her old bedroom. But the house was hardly ever ventured into, less the smell be destroyed and its memory forgotten.

The grounds were kept neat and organized and vandals chased away, insuring that it would be livable for when Sookie returned. Because everyone who cared to wonder about her knew that someday she would come back to the place that had been her home for so long. And when she did come back they would be ready to greet her again.

That opportunity came one spring night almost twenty years later.

For the first time signs of life were everywhere. The golden lights of the house came pouring through the old windows that had recently been cleaned. In the backyard, on the antique clothes line, hung the white sheets that had covered the furniture so that they wouldn't collect dust. Two cars were parked in the front, a U-Haul attached to the back of one of them. Boxes were strewn all over the front and back porch.

And none of this went unnoticed to the diligent watch of the vampire up the hill.

"Addie, can you go look in the U-Haul and see if there is another box with kitchen stuff in it? We're missing a few pots and pans."

"Yes ma'am!"

A young woman, no older than nineteen, sprinted out of the front door moments later. Her blond hair was pulled out of her face by a head band and she wore nothing more than a pair of shirts and an old t-shirt whose sleeves had been rolled up. The skin on her arms and legs were dark with a tan and covered in the sweat of a long day's work. She was humming to herself as she walked the short distance from the porch to the trailer, her dark blue eyes twinkling.

He was on her before she could make it inside the trailer. Her scream broke the peace of the night as his pale arms wrapped around her and began to squeeze the life out of her.

"What are you doing here?" he growled into her ear, demanding to know who was moving into the house that had only ever belonged to one person and one person alone. Only she was allowed to live there.

"Bill Compton you let go of my daughter this instant!"

He froze, his dark eyes turning to the woman who was now standing on the front porch looking furious. She was older than the last time he saw her with a few wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, but she was still just as beautiful. Her hair was a dull shade of blond, even darker in comparison to the young woman he was holding hostage.

And those eyes...he knew those eyes.

Slowly his vice like grip ebbed away and the girl ran from him, leaping onto the steps in terror as she ran and hid behind her mother.

"Sookie?" Bill asked with some hesitation, not quite believing his eyes. He had run after blonds so many times before, mistaking them for her. It was so hard to believe that she was back now, after so long.

She didn't hear him, she was too busy comforting the other woman, her daughter. Her daughter.

He looked closer now. The hair, the eyes, the shape of her body. Yes, every single aspect of that young woman reflected the Sookie he had come to love. Some of her facial features differed but everything else was he same. She truly was Sookie's daughter.

Suddenly it all made sense.

"I am sorry." he said roughly, his mind still processing all of the information he was taking in. Sookie was back and she had a daughter. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"No, you just meant to kill her!" Sookie snapped back.

"Mom, its okay. I'm alright." the girl, Addie, spoke quietly but she was still eyeing Bill with fright.

"No, I just wanted to know what she was doing here. Teenagers sometimes come out here to use the house for their own devices and I was just trying to run her off."

Sookie glared back down at the vampire that was standing innocently in her yard. Even after all these years it was still hard to know what vampires were thinking, but she had a good guess about what was running through Bill's mind right now. At least he looked sorry.

"Don't apologize to me, I'm not the one you tried to squeeze to death." she sighed, stepping back a little to reveal her daughter. "Addie, this is an old friend of mine, Bill. Bill this is my daughter, Adele."

Adele. He wasn't surprised.

"I am sorry for scaring you, Adele."

"Its okay, no harm done." she answered hesitantly. "And please, call me Addie."

The three of them stood their awkwardly for a moment before Sookie finally broke the silence. "Well, would you like to come in Bill? Just watch your step, there are boxes and breakables everywhere." she said as she began to lead them into the house, her daughter right on her heels. Addie might have said everything was fine but it was obvious she was going to be nervous around him for a long time.

Bill followed them inside slowly, relishing the moments of walking through that door again. Everything was just as he remembered. Some of the furniture had been moved around, a few new additions added, and there were indeed boxes everywhere, but it was still Sookie's house, just like it had always been.

He noticed that Adele turned in a different direction and snuck off down the hall were Sookie's room once was. She was probably sleeping in the spare bedroom, the one with the hidey hole in the closet. He would have to remember that if he ever got trapped over here at day break. If he was given the opportunity to stay that long, at least. It had been twenty years, not long for a vampire, but plenty of time for a human to change.

"I'd offer you a blood, but I haven't had time to stock the fridge. I figured it would be a few days before anyone showed up." Sookie said with a heavy voice. She stood in the doorway of the kitchen, where their most recent unpacking had been underway and stared.

Bill didn't dare question her or press her to speak, instead he moved quickly and quietly behind her and wrapped her in his arms. She didn't tense but it took her a few seconds to wrap her arms around him in return. Her warmth flooded him and he closed his eyes, smiling softly.

They stayed like that for a moment, both taking their own joy from being around something so familiar, something they both had enjoyed so much once upon a time. But after a minute it was over and she stepped away from him and turned back to face the living room, she couldn't meet his eyes.

"I guess you want an explanation, about why I left." she said softly.

His eyes darted to the hallway Adele had disappeared into. "I think I already know why." his eyes turned to look back at Sookie who was looking at him with surprised eyes. "She looks just like you Sookie." he explained. "And she's the right age."

Sookie looked down at her clasped hands. "I couldn't stay here, Bill. I just...there was so much at stake with the new regime in and the Weres coming out. I didn't want her to get caught up in all this shit too. I didn't want them to use my daughter against me."

Silence settled between them as they both decided how to proceed.

"Where did you go?" Bill finally asked. His voice was heavy and low as he struggled to keep in his anger and frustration.

"Florida." she laughed dryly. "I wanted to go somewhere with a lot of sun, a place she would enjoy."

"A place without many vampires." he stated instantly.

"Yes." Sookie answered after a short pause. "I didn't want to go anywhere that I would be recognized. I wanted a fresh start."

Another heavy and awkward silence settled between them. This time it was Sookie who broke the silence.

"How are things here? Any other regime changes that I should know about?" her voice carried the lightest hint of a laugh, as if she were trying to make a joke out of it, to ease the awkwardness out of the room. It didn't work.

"Vampire policies are not as swift to change as humans. Once set it takes a great amount to effort to change them."

"So, Eric is still Sheriff then?" This was the one question that had been plaguing her since they arrived in Louisiana. There had been no one she could ask, no one to confirm if the Viking was still even living in the state or not. She didn't know why, after twenty years, she still cared.

"Yes. He is still running Fangtasia and doing as de Castro bids him."

"How is he?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself? He'll be here shortly."

Sookie's eyes went wide and the color drained from her face. She turned to face Bill with a horrified expression. "What?" she asked. She wasn't ready to face him. Not now. Not yet.

On cue there were three loud knocks on the door. Sookie didn't question who was standing on her porch now. She knew it could only be one man.

"I'll leave you to speak with him, then." Bill said, standing from his place on the couch and heading for the back door.

"Wait Bill! Don't go!" she pleaded.

He turned on her with fierce eyes. "Why should I stay when you yourself left without telling anyone? You didn't give any of us a chance to ask you to wait, to think things through. We would have protected you Sookie! You and your daughter! But you didn't give any of us a chance." he growled.

He stood staring at her a minute longer before he disappeared faster than she could see him. She heard the back door swing shut a second later.

There were three more loud knocks at the door, drawing Sookie's attention away from the vacant air that Bill had once occupied. Despite how nervous she had been only minutes ago she was feeling calm now. It was the calm that Eric always brought with her when he was around.

Hesitantly she took the few steps necessary to approach the front door and laid her hand on the handle. It was now or never. She opened the door and stared up at the man who had haunted her dreams for so long. Time had not changed him as her memory had.

She took a few steps back from the door. "Eric," she said softly, "come in."

* * *

What's this? Is Miss B writing something with chapters?!  
Why yes, yes I am. This is highly unusual for me, but I found myself thinking more and more about this plot line over the past few days and the short discussion I had with a few folks in the Dead and Gone thread just sparked me to actually start taking it somewhere. Exactly where that is, I'm not too sure yet, but I have a good idea.

I will say this now, no, this isn't a romance between Addie (my OC) and any of the canon characters. I swear. While Addie does play a large role in the story, there is very little romance involved with her.

And I think that's about it for this chapter.  
Reviews and constructive criticism make the world go round! Please help my world keep spinning!


	2. Chapter Two

First off let me say WOW! I never expected so many reviews! I am both thrilled and terrified at the same time. I don't want to disappoint any of you who are so eager to see where this leads. Like many of you said, there are so many possibilities that not even I'm sure where I'm going to take it.

Again, another warning, if you have not read "Gift Wrap" (aka Sookie Stackhouse 8.5) then you're about to have it spoiled for you big time. Now please, continue on.

* * *

She took a few steps back from the door. "Eric," she said softly, "come in."

The vampire Viking stood in the door way, staring down at the woman who had left him twenty years ago with intense blue eyes. He watched her with an unreadable expression for several moments before he slowly began to walk past her into the house. His eyes darted around the room, examining every detail with the same cold eyes.

Sookie watched him hesitantly, following several feet behind him. For the first time in her life she was absolutely terrified of what Eric would do. She couldn't begin to imagine what was going through his head.

"Momma?" a small voice called from the hallway, catching the attention of both adults. "Is everything okay?" Addie asked. She was eyeing Eric nervously, looking back at her mother to insure everything was okay.

"Everything is fine Addie. Go back to your room." Sookie told her daughter. Obviously her voice hinted at her unease because Adele didn't move. Instead she stayed, continuing to eye Eric with great apprehension.

"Addie! Now!" This time she left no room for argument. She was pleased that her daughter quickly turned around and darted back into her room.

Slowly she turned to look back at Eric. He was staring at the doorway with wide, shocked eyes. At least, as shocked as a vampire's eyes could get. Just like with Bill something seemed to click into place when he saw Addie.

"How old is she?" he growled, his eyes never leaving the spot that Adele had just stood.

"Eighteen. She'll be nineteen in September." Sookie answered softly.

Eric was quiet after that. Slowly he turned and continued walking into the living room, examining every box and piece of newspaper with hard eyes. He didn't look at Sookie again.

"Eric I--"

"Nineteen years. You have been gone for nineteen years. You left without a word to anyone. You gave no explanation, no means to contact you, no hint about where you would be going. We looked for you, all of us, night and day, trying to find some trace of you. We thought you had been taken by an enemy, someone who wanted to get back at one of us. Hours were spent locating old rivals in an attempt to find you. Finally the witch told us to stop, that you had left on your own, but she didn't know where you were going or why." his voice was as cold as his body and it made Sookie shudder to hear it.

"We waited, I waited, to see when you would return. Every night I came here and watched this house, waiting for you to come back and give me some excuse as to why you had been gone for so long without letting anyone know where you were going. I spent those nights concentrating on our bond, trying to find you, trying to call you back but I couldn't feel you. Every single trace of you was gone. It was like you never existed."

Sookie watched him as he turned his back to her. His hands were grasped behind him and she could feel his anger and frustration, which she expected, but what she didn't expect was the amount of hurt she felt, all of which was not their own. She was comforted to know that their bond was still intact but now his emotions were weighing more heavily on her than her own.

"I thought about so many possibilities as to why you left. I finally decided that you had just had enough of us, of me, and left. I never expected that you had come of child." The thick accent of his past was beginning to seep through, as it often did when he was upset. "Who is her father?"

"A fairy named Preston." Sookie admitted in a soft voice. She found that she couldn't speak any louder than a gentle whisper.

"A fairy?" he asked in disgust, looking back at her with a similar expression on his face. "You bedded a fairy?"

"I didn't know he was a fairy!" her eyes were watering now. "Niall set it up as a Christmas present to me. The man disguised himself as a werewolf and laid himself somewhere that I would find him. He was injured and I brought him inside to try and help him. We spent only the one night together, he was gone the next morning. I didn't learn that it had all been set up by Niall until after I found out I was pregnant.

"I panicked when I found out. I didn't know what to do."

"So you ran?" Eric accused furiously.

"Yes I ran!" Sookie snapped back. "I ran as far away as I could! As long as I've known you you've always reminded me about how dangerous your kind are! A baby would have given you ample leverage against me and there was no way in hell I was going to let you use my daughter against me!"

The vampires blue eyes flared as he spun around to face her fully. His gorgeous face was twisted with fury and pain.

"Do you think so little of me that you believe that I would stoop so low as to use your own child against you? Do you honestly believe me to be that evil." The fact that his voice was low scared her more than if he had raised his voice.

She sighed in frustration. "Not you Eric, I mean vampires in general! The state had just been taken over--"

"And you were in the King's protection! Don't you think that would have passed onto your daughter too?!" Now his voice was beginning to grow in volume.

"I didn't know Eric! I didn't know anything about what was going to happen! Its not like I've ever been in this situation before and with the Weres coming out I half way expected for people to pull out their guns and start firing away."

Eric's big hands were suddenly on her shoulders, pushing her back into the wall. He bent down to look at her, his cold eyes boring into hers. "Do you think I wouldn't have done whatever it took to protect you? We are bound Sookie! Anything you wanted to protect I would want to protect too and I would have gone to any lengths to make sure you and she were safe!" he hissed.

Sookie was taken aback. It had never even occurred to her that she should tell Eric. She hadn't even began to ponder what he would say or how he would react. All she knew was that she had to get out.

"Is that how you knew I was here?" she asked softly. "Because of the bond?"

The corner of his lips quirked up in a sort of snarl and he moved away from her, turning his back on her again. "Yes. Even from this distance the tiniest spark alerted me to your presence. I saw the lights from the street."

Sookie took that in stride. She hadn't felt anything from their bond in years.

"Eric, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate that you would have used her against me. I never thought that you would do that."

"Where did you go?"

"What?"

"Where did you move to?"

"To Florida. Claudine came with me and we settled in a small town on the coast. I worked at a restaurant when Adele was a toddler and then took some college classes when she started elementary."

"So Niall hid you then. I figured as much when he didn't come demanding to know where you were."

"Yes. When he found out I was pregnant he took it upon himself to make sure we were safe. He found the house and insured that we would be able to make a living there. Claudine lived with us for a while, until Adele was about six, and then she moved into a place of her own."

"Was the girl a handful?"

"Adele? No, she was a good baby. Claudine on the other hand...well, she's always been a handful."

Sookie actually heard Eric snort softly and that lightened the mood. She found herself smiling as she walked up to him, coming to stand at his side.

"Why did you come back?" his voice was softer than it was earlier, as if he didn't want her to hear him asking the question.

This was the one question that Sookie was hesitant to answer. She didn't know what she should say because she didn't know how much her daughter wanted them to know. She decided to play it safe until she and Adele had a chance to talk it over.

"I just missed home. Addie just graduated high school and decided to wait a few years on college so I thought it would be a nice change to move back." she answered simply.

"You're lying." he said blankly.

"No I'm not."

"You aren't telling me the entire truth." he turned to look down on her from his great height.

"Because that's none of your business."

The Viking didn't reply but Sookie knew she hadn't heard the last of it. Eventually they would want to know why she came back.

"Do you want to meet her?"

Eric thought about that for a minute before nodding.

"Adele, can in you come in here please?" Sookie called down the hallway, praying that he daughter didn't have her headphones in.

"Coming!" her daughter shouted back. A minute later Addie came walking into the living room and looked between the two of them. She was still eyeing Eric nervously but she didn't seem as timid as before. "Yes ma'am?"

"Addie I want you to meet another friend of mine. This is Eric. Eric this is my daughter, Adele." Sookie said, nodding to each in turn, making sure she was positioned between them.

"Nice to meet you." Adele said politely. She didn't offer her hand like Sookie had done so many times when she had first been introduced to the undead. Her mother had taught her well.

"A pleasure to meet you too, Adele. Might I say you look just like your mother." Eric said with a smile and more charm than she had expected. She eyed him carefully, making sure he wasn't trying to pull something over on her barely legal daughter.

Adele just laughed a little. "I know. People tell me that all the time."

Eric nodded and then looked back at Sookie. "I should be going." he said as he started to walk to the door. "It was nice to meet you Adele. Sookie, we'll speak again soon."

"Good night." both women called in unison.

He opened the door and then he was gone. They stood there staring at the door for a moment.

"You sure do have a lot of vampire friends Mom. I didn't think you liked vampires that much." Adele said as she started to gather up a few loose pieces of newspaper to throw in the trash.

"I don't have a problem with vampires in general, I just don't trust them."

"You don't trust anyone, Mom." Adele said as she walked into the kitchen. "Oh, do you still want me to get that box from the trailer?"

"No, leave it for tomorrow. I think we've had enough adventures for one night."

* * *

Now, I know that it is a stretch that Sookie would have gotten pregnant from a one night stand with a fairy. But its just gotta work for the story. I'm working on a lot of "what if"s here so please bear with me.

And a big thank you to SEOrwin for voluteering to be my awesome Beta.

Again thank you sooooo much for all of the reviews and alerts! I honestly couldn't believe it! I'm so excited! Thank you all so much! Uber love!!!

Obviously I do not own any characters here. They all belong to Charlaine Harris.


	3. Chapter Three

Don't worry there are no spoilers ahead in this one! Enjoy!

* * *

Waking up in the house she had grown up in was more refreshing for Sookie than she thought it would be. Last night she'd slept in her old room, the one that had belonged to her grandmother before her, while Adele slept in the small bedroom across the hall. The same room that had been hers as a little girl.

Of course the first thing her daughter had said as soon as she saw the room was "I'm going to have to paint it." Typical, Sookie thought, but she had decided to humor her daughter. After all, the room could use a fresh coat of paint, and she knew it would make Addie feel more at home. Sookie had automatically felt at home here but Adele's entire life had been in their tiny two bedroom, one bath home back in Florida.

When they got out later to go grocery shopping and pick up a few other small essentials they would have to stop by a hardware store to pick up some paint. She already guessed that Addie would want her room to be sky blue. That was the color of her old room. She might even want to add sea shell details or something to remind her of the beach. Even though they had both agreed that they needed to leave, to start over somewhere else, Adele had still cried because she was going to miss her friends and the ocean. There was nothing her daughter loved more than the ocean.

"'Morning." Adele said dully as she came stumbling into the kitchen, kicking an empty box out of her path.

"Morning star shine." Sookie greeted cheerfully as she watched her girl walk to the fridge and open it out of habit. Unfortunately it was still empty.

"Ugh, I need caffeine." Addie whined as she sank down into a chair at the kitchen table.

"Oh you can go without for one day. Besides, we've got a lot to do. It won't take you long to wake up."

"All the more reason for me to have caffeine." Addie muttered. She'd put her head down on the table. This was all part of her morning ritual.

Her mother just laughed. "How did you sleep?"

"Horribly." she replied emphatically as she looked up from the table. "Its too quiet here. I had to put my iPod on shuffle to finally go to sleep."

Sookie frowned a little. "I'm sorry hun. While we are out today we'll look and see if we can find a noise maker for you. I'm sure we can find one with ocean noises on it."

"I hope so." Adele sighed as she sat up. "I'm going to go get a shower. The shampoo is in your room isn't it?"

"Yes. You can use my bathroom if you want. I've set out a few towels too."

"Alrighty." Addie called as she disappeared down the hallway.

Sookie went back to drinking her coffee as she heard the shower come on. This was something else to add to her mental list of things they needed. They definitely weren't going to be able to get all of this in Bon Temps. They were going to have to drive to Monroe. They had been building up the area around the Pecandland Mall when she moved and she was sure the stores were still open. That way they wouldn't have run around all over the place.

Before they got out of the city they would need to get gas. And food.

"I guess this means we're going to see Sam." Sookie couldn't help but smile into her coffee. She had really been looking forward to seeing Sam. Although if last night was any indication, it might not end so well.

She sighed a little. It was now or never.

Two hours later (It took Adele almost that long to find her makeup and what she considered a suitable outfit.) Sookie pulled into the Merlottes parking lot. She almost started to pull around to the staff parking section but she caught herself in time. It was around lunch time and it didn't look too crowded. She hoped that Sam still tended his own bar.

As soon as they walked through the door it was like coming home all over again. Everything was just as she remembered it. All the tables and chairs. The uniforms on the waitresses (who were the only thing she didn't recognize) and the man standing behind the bar with graying hair and familiar warm eyes.

"Sam?" Sookie called before the young waitress could get them a seat.

He looked up when he heard his name called. Their eyes connected for a minute and Sookie just smiled at him brilliantly. He stared at her and she could see his mind working through his eyes as he placed her face. Then his eyes widened in recognition and he beamed.

"Sookie!" he shouted happily as he rounded the edge of the bar. In a matter of seconds his arms were around her, lifting her in in the air as they spun around, laughing happily. This, of course, drew the attention of everyone in the bar and soon whispers began to spread about Crazy Sookie Stackhouse being back. But, for right now, she could ignore it.

"Oh Sam its so good to see you again!" she said as he set her down again. This was the best reaction she'd gotten so far. She hoped more were like this.

"And its good to see you again! Lord, I didn't know what had happened to you, cher. Come on, sit down and lets talk. Who's that?" he asked, looking back at Adele, who was watching them with a partially amused and partially confused look.

Sookie turned around and smiled, waving her daughter forward. "Sam this is my daughter, Adele. Addie, this is my old boss Sam Merlotte."

"Nice to meet you." Adele said with a small, polite smile.

Sam was stunned.

"Its good to meet you too." he laughed slightly as he shook Adele's hand. "Wow. A daughter. Gosh Sook she looks just like you."

Mother and daughter rolled their eyes slightly. People were always saying that.

"Well come on, sit down, lets catch up. Where have you been all this time? Leaving without a word like that to anyone. You know you really had us scared." Sam said as he directed them over to a booth, sitting down across from them.

Sookie looked down in shame, "I know Sam, I'm really sorry about that. I wasn't really thinking clearly at the time. But I moved down to Florida, to this really quiet little ocean-side town." she began to recount her tale from Bon Temps to Florida in more detail than she had told anyone thus far.

She was glad that she had already told Adele the story about her birth and the place that she had come from. Adele really never seemed to ask questions about her father. Of course there had been the times when she was younger when she'd asked if she actually had a daddy and where he was. The first time she'd asked it had torn at Sookie's heart, but she just explained that their family was special. She told her darling daughter that her mommy loved her so much it was more than a mommy and a daddy combined. That had been enough for the four year old who had continued on her merry way.

But it hadn't been until they started the sixteen hour drive back that she had filled her daughter in on the entire story. It had been a great relief to fill her daughter in on everything. And Adele admitted being glad to know about her mother's past. So things had worked out well between them.

"So Florida huh. That must have been a pretty fun place to grow up." Sam said, turning his line of questioning to Adele, who had been doing everything possible to not listen in on their conversation.

"Yea, it was nice. I spent most of my time on the beach."

"Do you know how to surf?" Sam asked, intrigued.

Adele shrugged. "A little. I was more interested in scuba diving though. A friend of mine's family did tours and stuff like that so they would take us out on the weekends and during the summer and we got to go all over the place. It was great. I'm going to miss it." she frowned a little at the end, reaching to her neck to play with the sea glass charm that she'd had since she was young.

Sam seemed to realize that the conversation was taking a wrong turn and he desperately tried to turn it elsewhere.

"So, what brings you back to Bon Temps?"

Mother and daughter looked at each other from the corner of their eyes. They had a silent conversation and Sookie could read the apprehension in her daughter's mind. She didn't want them to know.

"I just got homesick." she lied easily. "Adele is out of high school now and she's waiting a few years to go to college so I thought it was about time to pack up and come home."

Sam looked between the two of them for a moment, trying to decide if he believed her or not. But after a second he smiled and laid his hand on top of Sookie's. "Well I'm glad you're back." he said with a smile. A minute later their order came up and Sam began to stand.

"I'll leave you two alone to eat. Someone's gotta tend bar anyway. Adele, it was nice to meet you. Sookie, it was great to see you. Come back soon. Words gonna get out soon that you're back and you're going to have an entire town to explain to." he smiled before he walked back to the bar.

"Well at least one person isn't mad at you." Adele commented after Sam's retreat as she dug into her burger.

"Sam was never one to ever really get mad, just concerned. He was a great boss."

"He must have really liked you."

"Yes. He did."

"I bet he still does."

Sookie couldn't help but laugh a little. "Possibly."

"Gosh Mom, you were a player in the day weren't you?" Adele laughed before taking a sip of Coke.

Sookie blanched. "Excuse me?"

This just made Addie laugh harder. "Oh come on Mom. Aunt Claudine has already told me about all the guys here who liked you. And neither Bill or Eric were bad looking. I'd imagine Sam was pretty handsome back in the day too. And then you dated all those guys back home." she teased. "Don't deny it Mom, you were a total player."

"I did not _play_ any of those men." Sookie replied, "Yes, I had several relationships in my time but that's normal." she was trying to sweep all of this under the rug but her daughter was having none of that.

"I'm not saying that like its a bad thing! That's really awesome and impressive. I hope I inherited that from you too."

"Oh you have, otherwise we wouldn't have had to move."

Addie gave her mother a look. "That wasn't my fault, Mom."

Sookie sighed. That hadn't come out right. "I know dear and I didn't mean to say that it was. You know I don't blame you for any of this, right?"

Adele nodded, looking down into her half empty plate.

Reaching over Sookie wrapped her arms around her little girl's shoulders and hugged her tight before blowing a raspberry onto her cheek. "I lava you, my volcano." she said in a silly voice.

Addie couldn't help but laugh and leaned into her mother's embrace. "I lava you too."

Sookie smiled, glad to see that her daughter was now in better spirits. "Now lets finish eating and then get on the road. We've got a lot to get today."

"We're still going to get paint for my room, right?" Addie asked, a glimmer of hope in her eye.

"I was planning on it. While you're at it I guess you're going to want to paint the upstairs room as well, if that's what you're going to use as your studio. Do you know what colors you want yet?"

Now Adele's eyes were twinkling like stars. "Yup! I want to my bedroom to be lavender and I guess I'll paint the attic room Robin's Egg Blue. Oh its going to be so pretty! I can't wait. I still can't believe you're letting me paint it already."

"Well we might as well do it now while everything is still boxed up. That way we don't have to worry about moving it all around later. You're just going to have to sleep on the couch for a night or two."

"That's fine with me! That couch is comfy anyway and I don't have the TV hooked up in my room yet."

Sookie shook her head, she'd never had a TV in her room, not even in Florida. "I don't understand how you can sleep with that on."

"I don't always sleep with it on. I just like watching TV before I go to bed."

"Yea yea. Well are you ready to hit the road? We've got a few places to go today and the drive to Monroe is about an hour."

"I'm ready when you are."

"Then lets go."

The two women stood up to leave and said good bye to Sam before walking out the door.

Three hours later they were pulling back into the driveway and were surprised to see another car already parked waiting for them. The kitchen light was on and they could see someone moving around.

"That has to be Amelia." Sookie said, unable to keep the smile from her face.

"Who's Amelia?" Addie asked as she unbuckled.

"She was my roommate until I moved. She has always been a great friend and we even kept in touch afterwards. She's the one I called when we decided to come back. Honestly, I'm surprised she wasn't here yesterday." she laughed as she got out of the car.

As soon as she heard the car doors shutting the witch came running outside with the biggest smile cut across her face. "Sookie!" she cried as she came flying off the porch and almost tackled the telepath to the ground. The two friend's wrapped themselves in each other's embrace and squeezed for all it was worth.

"Its so good to see you again!" Amelia cried as she patted Sookie on the back before holding her at arms length. "You look great! You barely have any wrinkles."

Sookie could hear her old friend's thoughts clearly: Amelia was so happy to see her again. She thought she looked great, and she couldn't believe how much Adele had grown. And above everything else, she was so glad to have her back.

"I missed you too, Amelia." Sookie said and she could feel her eyes beginning to tear up.

"Aww, don't cry! Come on, this is a happy occasion. You're home!" Amelia said happily, trying to keep her friend from crying. Then she turned her attention to Adele.

"Oh my gosh, is that Addie?" she asked in shock. "Girl you've gotten so big since the last time your momma sent me a picture of you! Its so good to finally be able to meet you!" Immediately, and to Adele's surprise, Amelia pulled her into a tight hug. Adele returned it but was giving her mom a look, silently asking if this woman was crazy.

Sookie just laughed. "I see you kept that extra key to the house. I hope you made some coffee."

"Of course! We've got a lot to catch up on!" she said as she let go of Adele and started walking back into the house with Sookie.

"I told Adele that I was surprised you weren't here waiting on us when we got here yesterday." Sookie said as they walked into the kitchen. She could already smell the coffee percolating on the counter, it was wonderful.

"I figured you'd want some time to settle in and just get reacquainted with the place." Amelia said as she started looking around for some coffee mugs.

"Well I thank you for going ahead and having everything turned on for us. I'm pretty sure Addie would have gone a little crazy if we didn't have the phone or cable coming to the house." Sookie said as she fished a few mugs out of another box. They still had a lot to unpack.

Amelia just laughed. "So, is she liking it here?"

"So far, I think so. She kind of got a scare last night. Both Bill and Eric showed up and Bill tried to squeeze her to death."

Amelia gasped. "He did not! I can't believe it! I didn't realize he was still watching the house."

"Yea, but he let her go before too much damage was done."

"So you talked to him?"

Sookie nodded. "For a little while. But then Eric showed up and Bill left. He wasn't too happy." she sighed.

Amelia took a breath. "No, none of them were after you left. They kept coming around, trying to track your scent and they kept asking me if I knew where you were or if you said anything. I lied to them as long as I could, saying I had no idea, but when they started talking about invading other states to find if they had taken you I had to speak up. I swear I thought Eric was going to kill me. I'm glad you rescinded their invitations before you left otherwise he might have. Pam told me it took her weeks to calm him down."

Sookie stared across the table with wide eyes. "He was that upset?"

"It changed him, Sookie. He'll never admit it, but I kept in touch with Pam. She said he got even colder, even to her. He stopped caring about everything, about the bar, about his duties as sheriff. I didn't think it was possible but he went into a full blown vampire depression. Pam told me that there were a few nights that he didn't get out of his coffin and he stopped feeding for almost a month."

Sookie's jaw dropped and she could feel the color draining from her face. Eric in a full blown depression? It was hard to believe but it wasn't like Pam to make up something like that. It tore at her heart.

"I had no idea..."

"Don't blame yourself Sookie. You had other, more important things to worry about at the time. You did what you thought was best and that's all that matters. Speaking of, where did Adele go?" she asked, looking around.

"Probably into her room. We got her some paint for her room and the upstairs room that you stayed in. She's going to use that as her art studio. I don't like her painting anywhere else in the house."

"Oh fun! What colors did you get?" Amelia asked, excitement in her voice. She seemed to be excited about everything.

"Blue and purple. Her room back home was blue so I think it will help her with the transition, maybe she won't feel too homesick."

"How is she doing?" the witched asked softly. "I mean, with the entire stalker thing?"

"Its hard to tell." Sookie replied, her voice dropping too. "She doesn't talk about it and I have a hard time knowing what she's thinking. Right now she's just focusing on moving and unpacking and getting everything set up. But she did ask me if I was sure he wouldn't find us here. I know she's afraid, that much is obvious. And last night, when Eric and Bill were here, she was so nervous. She stayed hidden in her room most of the time they were here."

"Did you tell them?"

"No. All I said is that I was getting homesick and decided to move us back here now that Adele was grown up and out of school."

"Sookie!" Amelia scolded in a hushed tone. "You should have told them! They at least need to know to be on the lookout!"

"Amelia, as soon as I talked to them they both turned on me! I know why they are upset, I know I should have done things differently when I left, but I never realized they would still hold a grudge after all this time. It wouldn't be right to say 'Hey, I'm back after ditching you twenty years ago! And guess what, now a psychopath vampire is after my daughter, so would you mind watching our backs for us?' They don't owe me anything!" Sookie hissed.

"And when they find your mangled and drained bodies they're going to be cursing you for not telling them any sooner! You look me in the eye Sookie Stackhouse and tell me you didn't move back here because you knew you'd be safe."

Sookie looked Amelia in the eye for a moment before averting her gaze.

"I'll tell them after I've talked to Adele. She's the one he's after and she deserves to know that I'm going to tell them."

Amelia sighed. "Okay, but don't wait long. He's a vampire Sookie, it won't take him long to track you down."

* * *

Dun dun dun!!!  
Adele's turning out to be more like her mother in more than just looks. She's got her own problems with vampires as well.

A massive thank you to everyone who has reviewed and added this story to their watch! I lava all of you! And a big thanks to my awesome beta SEOrwin for finding all of my crazy typos and giving me encouragement about the chapters.

Reviews make Eric want to come out and play!

Also, if you would like to know what Adele's pendant looks like there is a link in my profile.


	4. Chapter Four

**With the release of Dead & Gone I realize that a lot of the facts of the story are no longer true and several of the characters are actually no longer alive. But I'm still planning to leave the story the way it is. I'm only changing a few small details that I had planned for later on. For those of you who haven't read the ninth book yet don't worry there are no spoilers ahead. **

**Enjoy!  


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**

Amelia stayed for only about an hour or so. She and Sookie reconnected and chatted away about normal things like Amelia's marriage to Tray. From what Sookie had gathered they were still as happy together as they had been when they'd been dating. She was glad that Amelia had found someone. It had hurt her when she hadn't been able to attend the wedding. Amelia wanted her to be the maid of honor.

"I'd better get going. Tray will be home soon and I try to have supper on the table by then. If you girls need help moving furniture or anything give us a call. Tray said he'd be happy to help." Amelia had said as she had been walking through the door.

"Thanks Amelia. Give him a hug for me." Sookie said as she gave her friend one last hug.

"I will. It was nice to finally meet you Adele."

"Nice to meet you too Ms. Amelia." Adele said from behind her mother.

They said one last good-bye before Amelia left. Sookie gently closed the door and locked it out of habit. Of course, if anyone really wanted in that lock wouldn't stand a chance.

"Addie, I think we need to talk." Sookie said, stopping her daughter from returning to the sanctuary of her room.

Adele blinked in confusion and hesitantly returned to the living room. "Okay." she said uncertainly as she perched on the edge of the couch.

Sookie took a deep breath and sat down next to her. Adele avoiding talking about this whenever possible but this was one of those times that simply couldn't be avoided.

"Honey, I know you don't want people here to know about what happened back home, but I think it would be for the best if we let a few people know what's going on." Sookie spoke gently.

Adele was practically humming with tension as she stared a hole into the floor. "But you said that we'd be safe here. That's why I agreed to the move because you said we'd be safer."

"I know honey, and we will be, but we won't be as safe if the people here don't know what's going on. And I'm not saying that I want to tell the whole town what happened, but there are a few individuals who could help keep us safe."

"Like who?"

"Well like Bill and Eric."

"But they are vampires too!" Adele cried.

"I know they are but they're different! I know it didn't seem like it last night but both of them are really good guys. And they are older, much older than him. They'll want to help, I promise you. They'll be able to keep you safe a lot better than I can."

Addie sat on the edge of the couch quiet and defeated. "But last night both of them seemed so mad. I heard you and that Eric guy arguing ya know."

Sookie sighed a little, "They're mad at me because I didn't tell them I was leaving. Both of them...both of them had really deep feelings for me and I guess I hurt them more than I realized when I left. I didn't tell them anything about it, I just left because I was scared."

"If you were so scared of them then why do you think we'll be safe with them now?" Addie asked, turning to her mother with accusing eyes. Her eyes were already starting to grow red with tears and Sookie could feel her fear.

Sookie wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her into a hug, cradling her against her chest. "I never ever thought that they would hurt me Adele. I never thought they would hurt you either. The only reason I left when I found out I was pregnant with you was because of the politics. I know I've told you that vampires think differently than people, and their politics are the same way. It's all very complicated and I just didn't want you to get caught up in it. I wanted you to have a better life than I had."

"What makes you think they would do that now?"

"Nothing. I think its still possible that I may get caught up in that all over again. But if that's what it takes to keep you safe then I'm willing to do it. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Adele, I swear it."

"I know Momma." Adele said quietly.

Mother and daughter sat in each other's embrace for several quiet minutes. Sookie was trying to figure out how she was going to explain that her daughter was being stalked by a vampire to her vampires. While she was certain they would help (at least she seriously hoped they would) she wasn't so certain about how willing they would be to do it. Of course Eric would want to make sure that no one would come poaching in his "Area", but she wondered if that would be the only reason he would help. She wondered why it mattered to her in the first place.

"So I'm going to call the police department back home and let them know that we've finally settled in somewhere. Then they are going to send all of their information here so that the local police department can pick up on the investigation." Sookie said finally.

Adele just nodded as she straightened up from her mom's hug. "Alright."

"Don't worry Adele; everything is going to be fine." Sookie promised her little girl.

"I know." She sighed. No matter what her mother said Addie was still going to worry. Until that man was dead, finally dead, she was constantly going to worry.

And Sookie knew that. She frowned as she watched her daughter turn her downcast eyes to the floor. She didn't know what to do for her. There was nothing more she could say, right now she just needed to get Adele's mind onto something else.

"Hey," Sookie said a minute later as a thought hit her. "Why don't we go ahead and pull out all of your canvases? I know you want to paint the room upstairs first but your pictures don't need to sit in storage. Come on; lets find some to hang around the house to brighten up the place a little. The sunflowers would look great in the kitchen."

"You aren't going to use them to brag on me, are you?" Adele asked, trying to sound annoyed, but she couldn't hide the smile curving up the corners of her mouth.

Sookie grinned. "Well of course I'm going to brag about you. You're my daughter, that's what I'm supposed to do."

Addie rolled her eyes but by now she was smiling. "You only get to hang the ones I say you can hang. I don't want any of the shitty ones taking up space."

Sookie's eyes narrowed and she gave her daughter a very pointed look about her choice in language.

"Sorry. Crappy ones." Adele amended quickly before she stood up, looking around as she tried to decide what her next move was going to be. "Can we put the red one above the fireplace?"

The mother couldn't help but smile as she soothed her daughters hair down. "We'll see." She promised.

No vampires appeared on their door step that night or the night after that. It took three more days before the vampires that had so rudely interrupted their happy homecoming would come by again.

This time they didn't knock.

"What is this?!" Eric demanded as he stormed into the Stackhouse residence three nights later.

Mother and daughter jumped at his sudden appearance. There was a loud crack, like a small peal of thunder, and Adele was gone from her place on the couch. Sookie barely seemed to notice

"What the hell Eric?" she shouted back, standing up to face him when she saw the viking. She was reeling from his anger and her own. Besides, the sound of her voice drowned out the loud thumping of her heart against her rib cage.

Said viking did not reply immediately. He stared down at the defiant woman standing before him with fury dancing in his icy blue eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but another thunderous crack interrupted him.

Adele landed on the couch slightly more disheveled than she had left it. She was sitting in it awkwardly, one leg thrown on the back while the other braced against the floor too keep her body from falling off. Her hands were clutching onto the cushions for dear life.

"Sorry," she muttered as she straightened up. "I ended up outside in a tree."

Eric gave the girl a curious glance but before his silent question could be answered Sookie spoke again.

"Eric!" she demanded. "What are you doing here?"

He thrust a sheet of paper into her hand. "Explain this."

Sookie looked down at the page. It was similar to a wanted poster, with a familiar sketch and several lines of information about the man's appearance. There were several contact numbers listed in case he was spotted. She noticed that the Bon Temps Police Department was one of those numbers.

"Where did you get this?" she asked him quietly.

"It was left in Fangtasia's mail box this morning. I didn't notice it until I received a call from a member of the Shreveport Police Vampire Division asking me if I had seen this man before. He said, since I was the Sheriff of Area 5 then I might want to know that there was a young girl in my area who was currently being stalked by a vampire. Imagine my surprise when I heard she had recently moved here from Florida and that her name was Stackhouse." It was clear that the vampire was trying not to snarl.

The anger in his voice didn't phase Sookie. She stood as tall and firm as ever, ready to fight him tooth and nail if she had to. Thankfully it didn't come to that.

"Its my fault." Adele spoke up. "I didn't want Mom to tell anyone when we first got here. I didn't want to get all of the same scared, sympathetic looks that made us leave home in the first place. We finally decided that we were only going to tell a few people and so Mom called the sheriff's office back home yesterday to let them know where we have moved too."

"I was waiting until I'd heard from the local police force before I contacted you." Sookie finished, giving Eric a very accusing look.

Eric was quiet for a few moments as he looked between mother and daughter and their defiant and guilty faces. His anger began seeping away almost as quickly as it came on.

"That was a very foolish thing to do." He chided gently, briefly turning his attention towards Adele. "If I had known sooner that you and your mother were in trouble I would have sent someone out here to make sure that your home was safe. You are most vulnerable now since you have yet to completely settle in."

Adele didn't say anything, she just looked from Eric and up at her mother in quiet apology. She was already blaming herself enough for all of this; the last thing she really wanted was a stranger to confirm all of her worst fears.

Sookie sighed gently and walked over to sit down next to her daughter. "This isn't your fault, Adele. I'm the one who chose to wait to talk to you before I told anyone the truth. Besides, the important thing is that you are safe now. That's all that matters."

"You always say that." Adele grumbled. She wasn't too keen on the idea of her mother babying her so much in front of a stranger, especially a vampire stranger.

Much to her displeasure Adele looked over to see an amused smile playing on their guest face. She could feel herself grimace.

"You seem to be like your mother in more ways than one." Eric observed gently as he watched the pair. "So, how did you come to have a vampire stalker Adele?"

Sookie looked over at her daughter uncertainly. Her daughter didn't like to discuss the details of that day even with her. She doubted she'd want to tell them directly to Eric. When her daughter hesitated she began to prepare a summarized report of the events that lead up to their move, but she was surprised when Adele began to speak.

"It was one day, right after school let out for the summer. We lived right on the beach so a huge group of us went down to celebrate. It was a normal day of partying. We spent all day swimming and surfing and that night we built a big bon fire to roast marshmallows on. It was finally starting to get dark enough out that we couldn't see in the water very well so I started to swim in, but as I got to shore a wave caught me by surprise and knocked me into some rocks. I was trying to get my footing so I could swim out of them when another wave knocked me over. It continued like that for a little while until one of my friends was able to pull me out. My feet were both cut up pretty bad so he carried me over to the back of somebody's truck and they started trying to bandage my feet up.

"That's when he showed up, out of no where. He must have been walking down the beach or something because we hadn't seen him anywhere around before. He came up behind my friend, Lorn, and asked if he could help with bandaging my feet. He had this crazed look in his eye and everyone there was pretty uncomfortable. Lorn told him no and he and a few of the other guys kind formed a barrier between me and him. They told him that he needed to leave and about that time a few of the others started to join us too. I guess he got intimidated by the number of us because he left. Everything was normal after that and I didn't see him again until I started to walk home that night. I had this uneasy feeling all the way home and when I was about a block away I caught a glance of him standing in the shadow of one of the houses. I figured by that time he knew what I was so I just popped home."

"Popped home?" Eric questioned.

"Yea, like what I did a second ago. I can't control it really well and when someone scares me like that I panic and just pop out. I was able to control it enough that night and I managed to get home, although I ended up in a wash room instead of the living room, like I wanted." She shrugged a little.

"Did you see him again after that?"

Adele nodded. "A few nights later me and a few of my girl friends were out and I noticed him walking along behind us. We ducked into a little cafe and sat around for a while, pretending that we were going to be sitting and chatting for even longer, just to see if he would go away. But when he didn't we called Fredrick."

"Who's Fredrick?" Eric asked again, the name rolling off his tongue as though it was some foreign word.

"The only local vampire. He's really nice and helps around the community when he can. Its just him so no one really minds. He's lived there for a while too so everyone is used to him. When I told him what was going on he showed up almost immediately and ran the other vampire off. But even he was worried. He walked all of us home and stayed around outside the house that night to make sure the other vampire didn't come back. He told us later that he called someone else to see what they knew about it. I don't know exactly what happened but Fredrick told me that the other vampire was supposed to leave and wasn't permitted to come back. He stayed gone for about a week and a half but then he came back." Adele's voice was heavy then and although there was more to say she didn't continue.

"Fredrick suggested that we go somewhere else for a while; somewhere that I had a lot of connections, people to look out for us while he and a few others took care of the new vamp that came up." Sookie continued a moment later as she gently stroked her daughter's back.

Eric nodded as he took in all the information. He concentrated on Addie's expression with emotionless eyes. He could tell from the way that they avoided the subject that Adele had been attacked. And although he couldn't see if for sure, he was certain that if he looked he would be able to see the scar on her neck from where she'd been savagely bitten.

"So this Fredrick fellow, he knew of her?" he asked Sookie.

"Yes. He knew she was part fae. I spoke to him on several different occasions and he told me that he would be able to get used to her scent, especially since she was born and raised there. He promised he'd be able to control himself and that his only real concern was if she ever began to bleed around him from a cut or some other reason."

"He said that's what attracted the other one, that he could smell my blood from when I cut my feet in the water." Adele said quietly. "He said that it was probably carried in the water and washed up further down the shore. The vampire would know that the smell was coming from the party going on by the docks."

The three of them were quiet for a minute as they digested all of this information.

"What is his name?" Eric asked in a quiet voice. He was handling the younger Stackhouse with great care, not wanting to incite the wrath of her mother.

"We don't know. If Fredrick knew he never told us." Sookie answered, keeping an close eye on her daughter. "We were more concerned about what his next move would be rather than who he was."

"If you knew who he was then you could contact his maker and have him called off. There are quite adequate punishments for a vampire who stalks and hunts a particular human, especially if it is a child. The synthetic blood and willing donors make hunting in such a way obsolete."

"That's not exactly something you stop and ask someone who is trying to kill you." Sookie said curtly.

Eric seemed to accept that, although he didn't understand why this Fredrick character didn't mention it. But that didn't matter now. They were safe here and he was going to make sure they remained that way.

At that moment the phone rang and Adele jumped up to get it, disappearing into the kitchen to talk to whoever it was that was calling.

"So this is the real reason you've returned. Not because you were feeling homesick."

"No." Sookie said quickly. "No, I was feeling homesick and I had been wanting to come back for years but with Addie in school I just couldn't get away. She had so many friends there and I knew she'd hate to be up and moved. I had already planned to talk to her about at least coming back this summer to visit, just to see what she thought of the place. But then all of this happened and it just seemed right."

"You could have called. I even have an email address now. Contacting me would have been easy." He told her.

"I had other things on my mind Eric. Nothing will ever be more important to me than raising my little girl."

Eric nodded once and slowly stood. He turned his back to her as though getting ready to leave but he stopped and asked her quietly. "Did you ever love me Sookie?"

For a brief moment her heart ached. She thought about that question for a minute, going over all of the different emotions that had flooded her so many times since she left.

"Yes." She finally replied. "I did love you once."

"That's all I needed to know." He said and then he was gone.

* * *

I'm sorry for the wait guys but I had the worse case of writers block with this chapter. On top of that I was distracted by the release of Dead and Gone. But now I think I've finally sorted out the next few chapters so there shouldn't be too much of a delay.

Another huge thank you to SEOrwin for proof reading this chapter for me and catching all of my horrid typos.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I try to reply to everyone but if I miss you I apologize. Sometimes I forget where I leave off. But, really, I love knowing how much everyone likes the story. It makes me (and Eric) very happy. And its always good to keep the author and the Viking happy. So keep sending in your reviews!

Also I just wanted to let everyone know that I've added a few bits of information to my profile concerning the story. So far its only the picture to Addie's necklace and a brief description about Sookie's current appearance. But I will keep it updated as the story progresses.


	5. Chapter Five

_I do not own Sookie Stackhouse or any of Charlaine Harris' characters. I just like to play with her babies._  


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While the adults were reconnecting on lost time Adele had run into the kitchen to grab the phone. She took a deep breath before answering.

"Hello?" she asked cheerfully, not wanting anyone on the other line to suspect anything was amiss.

The caller was quiet for a moment. When they finally did speak it was the cool voice of a woman that flowed across the phone line. "Is this Sookie's daughter?"

"Yes. This is Adele."

"Adele." The woman said the name carefully, trying it out for the first time. Addie noticed that she had a bit of an accent. It sounded British, but it was hard to tell. "Is Eric still there?"

Addie poked her head around the door to peer into the living room. "Yes, he's still here. Would you like to talk to him?" She asked, wondering how this woman knew this number.

"No." she said quickly. "No, don't let him know that I've called. I just wanted to see if he was still there. Are you the one that is being hunted by the vampire?"

Adele hesitated. "How do you know about that?"

The woman just laughed. "I have my ways. I need to talk to you more but this isn't the time or the place. I'll come see you tomorrow night. We'll talk then. Don't tell your mother I called."

She hung up before Adele could ask any more questions.

"Good bye to you too." she muttered as she hung up the phone.

"Who was that?"

Addie jumped, her entire body tensing. "Geez Mom..."

Sookie just laughed a little. "Sorry. Who was on the phone?"

The younger woman opened her mouth to respond but remembered what the mystery woman said. "It was just some woman wanting to take a survey. I lied and told her I was under age." She shrugged. "Where's Eric?"

Her mother sighed softly and ran a hand through her hair. "He left. I'm sure he'll be back tomorrow night though."

Addie could tell that something was weighing heavily on her mother's mind. And, being the loving daughter that she was, she couldn't let that last long.

"So what's the deal with you two anyway? I know you said that you dated Bill once but you've never really talked about this Eric guy before."

"Things were never as clear cut with him a they were with Bill." Sookie explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Things were always complicated with Eric." Sookie began as she took a seat at the kitchen table. She recounted the tale of how she had first met Eric to her daughter, leaving out a few of the minor details (like being able to read his mind). There were a few stories that she retold fondly, like the short time of his memory loss that he had stayed with her, and all the ways that made her smile. But then she explained about the blood bond that had been forced upon them and the Nevada regime that had taken over only a few months before Addie had been conceived.

Adele listened intently and with awe. "It sounds like you really liked him, Mom." She commented softly. "And its pretty obvious how he feels about you."

A small, sad smile spread across Sookie's lips. "Yes. It took me moving to Florida with you to realize it but I do think I really loved him."

"You don't anymore?" Adele asked skeptically.

"Adele its been almost twenty years. I'm almost fifty years old. So much has changed. I got what I wanted when I had you. I'm happy."

Her daughter gave her a doubtful look but didn't say anything. Mother and daughter sat in a questionable silence for a moment before Adele yawned loudly.

"Mmm. Do you think we are going to have any more visitors tonight? I want to go ahead and get a shower."

"No, I think that will be the last we see of anyone for tonight. I think you'll be safe if you go ahead and shower."

"Alrighty. I'll be out in a little bit." Addie gave her mom a little wave before she set off to clean herself off.

Sookie sat in the kitchen for a while, looking at her empty hands, thinking about all of the things that she had left behind.

~*~

"I need to speak to Eliza or Charlotte."

"May I ask who is calling?"

"This is Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area 5."

"One moment please." The young woman on the other end of the line said. At least she was being professional.

"Eric Northman." A perky young woman answered. "Its been a while. What does Area Five's sheriff need with Area Fifteen?"

"Which sister am I talking to?"

"This is Charlotte. Eliza is busy at the moment so you'll just have to deal with me. So, what can I do for you Mr. Northman?"

"A young woman moved into the Area recently and has accused a vampire from your area of stalking her. I need information on said vampire in order to track his whereabouts."

"Ah, you mean the young Stackhouse girl."

"Yes. I just became aware of the situation this evening."

"Well we don't know much. They up and ran before we had a chance to talk to the girl about it. But we talked to Fredrick, who watched after the two women for a few nights prior to their move. Although he didn't know the identity of the guy he was able to describe him well enough for us to track him down. The little girl's stalker is a vamp by the name of Mattox Shelly. He's a young one by our standards, only around thirty or forty years. Am I correct in understanding that the girl has a portion of Fae blood in her system?"

"You are. If my calculations are correct then she is about sixty percent fairy." Eric replied stiffly.

Charlotte whistled. "Wow-ie. No wonder Mattox is so addicted. I was under the impression that she only had a few drops of it in her system. This might be more serious than we realized. But we have been keeping tabs on him to insure that he doesn't turn on anyone else. I'll send someone else over tonight to make sure he is stays in line."

"Has his maker been contacted?"

"Eliza and I have both tried to contact her on several occasions but we have yet to get through. Apparently she's spending some times with some monks in China or something like that. No technology, no modern amenities, nothing. A friend of Eliza's was going to attempt to go find her but we haven't heard back from him yet."

Eric growled into the phone. Charlotte noticed this and her voice instantly grew firm.

"Listen to me Eric, we have done everything we can with the information provided. We do know that Mattox is still in Florida and we will continue to keep an eye on him. If anything comes up you will be the first to know."

"Very well. Good evening." He hung up before the other sheriff had a chance to wish him a good night as well.

Eric placed his cell phone back in his pocket before clasping his hands in front of him. His blue eyes pierced a hole in the wall opposite him. His face was emotionless as he sat in his office in the back of Fangtasia and thought over all of the information that he had gained tonight. There was much to be done.

After a minute of thinking he pulled his cell phone back out of his number and hit a number on speed dial. The phone was answered after the first ring.

"Victor, its me. I need to speak to the King."

~*~

Adele was glad that her mom was right when she predicted that no one else would stop by that night. She spent the rest of the night in her room pondering what her mother had told her as she chatted with her friends back home. One of the things that Amelia had insured was ready for them was the internet. Addie would not be able to survive without an internet connection, that much was certain. Being able to keep in touch with her friends didn't make her feel so isolated and alone. But it did make her extremely homesick.

It was almost four in the morning when she finally fell asleep.

"Wake up! Addie, wake up!"

Addie's dream world was shattered by the tremors of someone shaking her lightly in an attempt to get her to stir. Immediately she swatted the hand away and rolled over onto her other side trying to get away from the disturbance. She wasn't ready to wake up yet.

Her plan worked for all of three seconds.

"Addie its almost noon, you need to get up. We're having company." Sookie spoke gently.

Addie's response was incoherent even to her.

"Alright fine, stay in bed, but me and your uncle are gonna eat lunch without you."

Addie's head snapped up. "Uncle Jay is here?" she asked groggily.

"Yup. So if you want to come see him then I suggest you get up and get dressed." Sookie smiled down at her daughter before leaving her room and shutting the door behind her.

"She'll be out in a second." She said as she walked back into the kitchen, taking a seat across from her brother.

Jason laughed. "Yea, I remember what it was like to be her age. Sleeping late is the best thing in the world."

Jason was fifty now but his fae heritage had been as kind to him as it had been to his sister. His hair was still full and sandy blond with only a few strands of gray sewn through here and there. Just like in his younger years he still bore the tan from a hard days work under the hot Louisiana sun. He didn't look a day over forty.

"Uncle Jay!" Adele cried as she came running into the kitchen. Her uncle stood up to greet her as she raced forward to him with open arms.

"Hey kiddo!" Jason grinned as he wrapped his arms around his niece, hugging her fiercely.

Sookie smiled as she watched the two greet each other. The move had been the best thing that had ever happened between Jason and she. With her so far away she wasn't constantly caught in the middle of her brother and his various flings. She no longer had to deal with her older brother's drama. Leave it for the llama, Addie always said.

And, as cliche as it sounded, the distance from his sister seemed to make him miss her even more. After a few months away from Bon Temps she'd finally called him and let him know what was going on. Never before had her brother been so happy to talk to her. It had shocked her speechless for a few moments. But, after that, Jason would make at least one or two trips a year to come see her and Adele. He had actually flown in so he could be there when Addie was born.

The love that he showed for his niece was enough to make Sookie forgive him for all of the hell that he had put her through years ago.

"How long have you been here?" Adele asked as she fished a Coke from the fridge and sat down between her mom and uncle. She was grinning from ear to ear. She had always loved her Uncle Jay. Jason had always been extremely good with her.

"Only about half an hour. Your mom said you were up kind of late last night so I didn't want to wake you."

"Nah, I needed to get up anyway." Addie yawned a bit and stretched, popping her shoulders as she did. "So what's for lunch?"

"Pizza! Your uncle brought us one from a new pizzeria. It smells pretty good."

"Its delicious! It's the best pizza I've ever had."

The family fixed their plates and sat around the kitchen table talking and catching up. They hadn't seen each other since last Christmas when Jason had flown in. Actually it had been a week before Christmas that he had come to visit. That was the tradition for them around the holidays, Jason would always fly in a week early so he could spend the actual holidays with his family.

Somehow Crystal and he managed to work things out and she actually brought their baby to term. Despite everything that happened she gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy. They named him Jacob Tyler but he had been raised as JT.

On occasion Jason brought him with him when he came to visit so he and Adele could bond. After all, they were the last of the Stackhouse's, there was no need for them to be distant. The cousins got along pretty well, although they'd had some memorable fights when they were younger. They laughed about them now.

"So how's JT?" Adele asked as she got up to get another slice of pizza.

"He's doing fine. He's getting ready to attend college in Monroe in the fall." Jason didn't sound too thrilled about that.

"Oh really? Does he have a major in mind?"

"He wants to be a nurse."

Adele started laughing. "JT wants to be a nurse?! HA!"

"I think that's a wonderful idea. He can go just about anywhere with a nursing degree. The pay is good and so are the benefits. But I can't believe Calvin is letting him go."

"He got a student scholarship and TOPS from the state. Everyone else is pitching in to help pay for the rest of his tuition. He's the first that's ever made it this far. Everyone wants him to succeed, even Calvin."

"That's great Jason! JT is a smart kid, I know he'll do fine. Besides he'll just be in Monroe, that's not too far away. He can still come visit on the weekends." Sookie knew her brother's biggest concern would be not seeing his son everyday. Jason was a good father and was really attached to his boy.

"I know. I just don't understand why he wants to be a nurse. They have a great construction school. But no, he wants to be a nurse."

"Maybe he just likes scrubs." Adele shrugged as she took a sip of Coke. There was still the hint of an amused smile on her lips. She was going to enjoy using this information to tease her cousin with.

Jason sighed heavily, looking down at his hands. He had always done manual labor to support himself and his family. He had expected that his son would do the same. Not that he wasn't proud of his son for going onto college and trying to make something of his life but a nurse?!

"You never know Jason, he might get there and find something else he is interested in." Sookie offered, trying to put her brother's mind at ease.

"Maybe."

The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes. Obviously the conversation about JT was over.

"So are you going to go back for graduation or do the cops think that's too dangerous?" Jason asked. Of course he knew the real reason why they had moved back home. It had been him and Amelia that had worked on getting the house ready for them to move into.

"I don't know. I really want to walk but if the principal decides that its too dangerous then he might not let me anyway." Addie said, her voice disheartened.

"Its only about a week away. We still have to decide if we want to go back or not."

"I really want to walk." Addie said again.

"I know honey but it just might not be possible."

"But don't they usually have graduations during the early evening? Surely they could do it while its still light out." Jason asked, genuinely curious as to why they couldn't let his niece attend.

"I don't know. We have to talk to them and see."

"Well let me know when you find out because I'm coming. I'm sure JT would like to come too."

Addie smiled. "That would be nice."

"And if you end up not going then we'll have our own graduation ceremony. You can walk and everything." Jason offered with a determined smile. He succeeded in making Adele laugh.

"That's fine Uncle Jay. I already passed so that's all that matters. I'll get my diploma one way or another."

The adults shared a grim look for a brief moment and then found another subject to talk about. A few minutes later the family was laughing and talking again just like old times.

~*~

"Which flowers? The poppies?"

"No the sunflowers. The poppies would look good in the hallway or the bathroom."

"I'd rather not hang any of my stuff in a bathroom Mom." Adele said as she began rummaging through another box of canvases and various other decorations.

It was an hour past dark when the Stackhouse girls got another visitor. There were three knocks at the door and for a brief moment both of them stiffened; there was no doubt that it was a vampire outside at the door.

"I'll get it. You finish hammering in the nails in." Sookie said, stepping down from the ladder and handing the hammer off to Adele who was quick to take her place.

"Coming!" Sookie called as she worked her way through the maze of boxes and bags to the front door. She was surprised when she opened the front door and the smile she gave wasn't a fake one.

"Good evening Bill. I didn't think we'd be seeing you back here for a while." She said as she stepped aside, leaving room for her ex lover to enter.

"I wanted to apologize to you for the way I acted the night before last. I was just so surprised to see you back that--"

"Its okay Bill, I deserved it. And I had no right to ask you to stay with me under those conditions. If anyone should be apologizing it should be me." Sookie told him, cutting him off before he continue his apology.

The booming of a hammer beating a nail into the kitchen wall interrupted them before they could continue.

"What's that?" Bill asked, looking from the direction of the kitchen back at Sookie.

"Adele's putting a few nails into the wall so we can hang some pictures to brighten up the place. Come on, I'll get you a blood." She said, motioning him to follow her as she walked back into the kitchen.

"You're not hammering your thumb into the wall are you?" Sookie asked speculatively as she watched her daughter work on the nails.

"No!" Adele answered quickly. "I just missed." She said sheepishly. "Oh, hello again Bill." she added when she saw the vampire.

"Hello Adele. Are these you're paintings?" he asked, looking at three small canvases that were sitting on the counter waiting to be hung.

Addie blushed a little. "Yea. Just a few small things I did between projects in art class back home." She said simply as she turned back to the wall to add the third nail on the wall.

"They're very good." Bill told her as he picked up one of the pictures, examining the details closely and running his hand over the visible brush strokes.

"Thank you." Addie answered in a small voice before she went back to driving the nail into the wall. There were a few short bangs followed by a dull thud and a yelp. "Ow!" She hissed, quickly pressing her thumb between the rest of her fingers.

Sookie examined her daughter silently for a moment before she smiled. "Wrong nail, ding dong." She teased when she saw that her daughter wasn't seriously hurt. She laughed even harder when Adele stuck her tongue out at her.

Bill watched the interaction between mother and daughter with an emotionless face but his stone cold demeanor had melted a little. They reminded him of his wife and daughter.

Sookie seemed to notice the tension in his face because as soon as the microwave dinged she handed it to him and gently laid her hand on his arm, pulling him back into the present. "Why don't we go sit in the living room and talk while Adele finishes in here." She asked him gently although she was already moving into the next room.

He followed after her silently after giving Adele one last glance. As he walked he took a very deep gulp of TruBlood. It hadn't been until Adele had hurt her finger that he'd gotten another whiff of her scent again. He hadn't realized it the other night but she smelled very much of magic. Although he wasn't sure of her parentage Bill was now certain that Addie's father was at least more than half fae.

Sookie took a seat on the couch, watching as Bill's eyes lingered in the direction of the kitchen.

"You can tell can't you?" she asked softly, drawing his attention back to the living room.

"Yes." Bill answered roughly a minute later. "She has more fae in her than you do."

"Adele has around sixty percent of fairy blood. I asked Niall, after she was born, if it was possible for him to mask her essence, but he said that would be almost impossible for him to do." Sookie explained softly.

"So her father..."

"He is a fairy." She answered simply, her eyes avoiding Bill's.

"I see. Does he know?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen him since that night. I didn't even know who he was until after I found out I was pregnant."

Bill's eyes darkened when she said this. "You didn't know?"

She shook her head and began to explain about the Christmas present her great-grandfather had arranged for her all those years ago.

"Does she know about her father?"

"Yes. We've talked about him several times over the years and I think now that's she older she understands what happened."

"She's a very smart girl."

"Yes she is."

Silence passed between them for a moment.

"Eric called me last night."

"Uh oh." The words left Sookie's mouth before she could stop them.

Bill gave her a scolding look and nodded. "I suppose you already know what he told me."

"Yes. But did he explain to you why I didn't tell you two at first?"

"No but I had a good idea. Eric has already assigned guard duty for the next two weeks."

"I guess you're up first." Sookie said, not really asking a question.

"Actually no, I was beat to tonight's position."

She gave him a quizzical look. "By who?"

Before Bill could reply there was another knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Adele called as the echos of her footfalls sent little tremors through the house. She peeked through the pep hole before opening the door. A woman a little older than her was standing there, a pleasant smile on her face. She wore a pair of khakis and a light pink sweater with a matching headband in her hair. The woman looked like she had come straight from a Wednesday night church meeting. All that was missing was a plate of cookies or a casserole dish.

"Can I help you?" Adele asked politely.

"You must be Adele." The woman said carefully. "I'm Pam. I'm your new body guard."  


* * *

Hurrah! Another successful chapter under my belt! Again, I'm sorry that this one has taken so long. There is a lot going on with my family at the moment so I've been helping with that.

A huge thank you to SEOrwin for being my awesome beta! If it weren't for her then I'm sure these chapters would be littered with typos and all sorts of horrid things.

I'd also like to mention again that I've added a few bits of information about the story in general in my profile. So if you have any questions you can look there or feel free to ask me.

Reviews make Pam be even more mischevious.


	6. Chapter Six

I am soooo sorry for the delay. I'm having some computer problems at the moment and its just been driving me crazy! But I was finally able to get over my block and I hope this is worth it. Enjoy!

* * *

It had been three days since Pam had showed up and introduced herself as Adele's body guard. As soon as Sookie had seen the two standing next to each other she'd known that the two would hit it off. She'd had a vision of the two sitting around in Addie's bedroom painting each other's toes and talking about boys. Her vision hadn't been too far from the truth. It was a quarter past ten and she was waiting for Pam to bring her daughter back from the shopping trip they'd gone on.

In the past three days the two girls had become thick as thieves, a fact that both delighted and terrified Sookie. While she was glad that her daughter now had a friend, a friend Sookie knew she could trust, Pam was still a vampire. Even the slightest drop of blood from something as little as a paper cut...

"If you're worried that Pam will snap and drain your daughter, then don't. Pam can control herself, especially now that she's grown quite attached to Adele." Eric said from his place sitting in his recliner.

Along with granting Adele her own personal body guard Eric also decided to give Sookie one as well. And if you want something done right you have to do it yourself. He'd shown up when Pam had come to pick up Addie for their shopping trip, much to Sookie's surprise. She hadn't really expected to see him again, not so soon anyway.

"I know. I know Pam isn't going to do anything to Addie. I trust her, I really do, I just can't help but worry for her, especially now." Sookie sighed. This was the most she had spoken to Eric tonight. They had been sitting in silence for most of the evening.

Eric nodded. "That's only natural. You're a good mother, Sookie. Its your place to worry about her."

That surprised her. "How would you know if I'm a good mother?" She asked him.

"Sookie you couldn't be a bad mother if you tried. You care too much about people you don't even know. I would expect you to be ready to give everything you had for your own child." Eric said certainly. He was looking at her now with slightly amused eyes; it made her smile.

The pair fell back into silence. Sookie flipped through the TV channels until she found something familiar but she hardly paid attention. Too many thoughts, too many concerns, were rushing through her head. This weekend was her daughter's graduation. They would have to leave in a few days if they wanted to be there in time. Of course she would have to okay that with her body guards.

For a brief moment she felt a familiar resentment bubbling up inside of her. She was barely back a week and already they were controlling her life again! No. No. This time was different. This time she had asked for this protection. This wasn't for her, this was for Adele. They could protect her far better than she could on her own. With a heavy sigh she swallowed her old feelings, feelings she had never gotten over, and steeled her resolve. Whatever it took, she'd do whatever it took to keep Addie safe.

Beneath her worries and emotional turmoil Sookie could feel the trickles of something else, the whispers of feelings not her own. She risked a glance at Eric. He was staring out ahead of him, seemingly lost in his own thought. No doubt he was more aware of everything going on around him than she was.

Ever since her return home she could feel the soft sparks of their bond that had been formed so many years ago. Slowly it was coming back to life, flourishing in their close proximity to one another. Although it was still weak she could still feel small hints of his emotions, but it was hard for her to identify them. It was like trying to look at a very blurry image from a great distance away, it was just impossible to tell what it was she was looking at.

He must have sensed her trying to meddle through his emotions because he chuckled. "Are you really that interested in what I'm thinking about right now? If you really want to know all you have to do is ask."

"I'm just not used to it. Its been so long."

"I know. I tried several times during the first few years to call to you through the bond. But by that time it was already too weak. This is the strongest its been since you left."

"Why did you call for me? I mean, even after all those years, when you knew I wasn't coming back."

"Because for the first time in my existence I had hope. I hoped, against all odds, that would you feel my call and come back to me. It wasn't until I could no longer feel you that I finally lost hope."

A heavy silence settled between them again. A dark mass of emotions passed between them via the tiny link of their bond that had survived.

"Eric, I'm sorry. I never intended to hurt you or anybody else."

"The worst mistakes were made on the best intentions." Eric commented darkly.

Sookie looked down at the floor to hide the own pain in her eyes. She hadn't thought about how her hasty decision had affected those closest to her. Not until now had she thought about the loved ones that she had left behind. But what more would she have done if she had known? If she had known how much they were hurting, how worried they were for her, would she have come back? She just didn't know.

"I'm sorry." She whispered again as she felt tears bubbling up in her eyes.

Before she knew what was happening Sookie felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and pull her close. Eric held her to his chest tightly and buried his face into her hair; she heard him inhale her scent.

"Just promise me you won't leave again." His voice was soft and more vulnerable than she had ever heard it. "Promise me you won't go anywhere that I can't follow."

"I promise." She replied instantly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hid her face in his shoulder. "I promise."

~*~

"So what is the deal with my mom and Eric?" Addie asked as she speared a spoon into her frostie. There was a stack of bags in the back seat and the two girls were sitting on the hood, enjoying the night air.

"What do you mean?" Pam asked as she twirled a glass of TruBlood in her hand.

"There is obviously something between them. I mean, now that I look back at it, all of the guys that Mom dated when I was younger looked just like him. Tall, blond hair, blue eyes. I don't remember a lot about them but they all looked the same. I don't think it was just a coincidence either."

Pam chuckled. "You're smarter than you look."

"I know. Its part of my charm." Adele flashed Pam a bright smile, but it quickly faded. "I barely know anything about my mom before she moved to Florida. I didn't even know the reason that she moved until we were on our way here. She doesn't tell me anything until she absolutely has to and I'm tired of it. I want to know what happened."

A small, devious smile twitched at the corners of Pam's lips. This is what she had been hoping for.

"So, your mother hasn't told you anything about her adventures with us?"

Adele gave Pam an uncertain glance. "Mom certainly never mentioned anything about adventures."

"You know about her gift, correct?"

"You mean her telepathy? Yea, I know about that. Its kind of hard not to know." Adele laughed a little.

"Well when we first met your mother we didn't know of her talent, but it didn't take us long to find out. That very night she warned us of a police raid only moments before it happened. She heard the thoughts of an undercover cop in the bar so we were able to get out in time. Only a few weeks after that did we use her to discover the identity of a thief who was stealing money from us. It turned out to be our business partner and when that vampire tried to attack Sookie, Eric staked him. I believe that is when his infatuation with Sookie began. No human had ever stood up to Eric the way she did that night and many nights after. She fought against him simply because she was, at that time, involved with another. Eric both admired and desired that loyalty from her.

"Many months he spent trying to seduce her but she fought him every step of the way. As long as I have known Eric I have never known anyone to resist him for so long. Her resistance infuriated him and, ultimately, is what led him to fall in love with her. Of course he neither realized it or admitted it to himself. It took a curse from a group of filthy witches to make him discover it, and even then he had a hard time believing it."

"Wait wait!" Adele said suddenly, "He was cursed?"

Pam nodded. "Yes. We didn't learn the details of the curse until later but it should have been obvious to us at the time. He was cursed with having what his heart desired most but without the knowledge of it. He ended up at your mother's house with amnesia, unable to remember who he was or why he was there. She kept him safe for a few days while we sought a cure for him. Apparently many things transpired while he was there although I don't know all the details myself. He didn't either, for a while. After we reversed the curse he had no knowledge of the days that he spent with Sookie. It took many months for him to remember. And when he did, well, lets just say he wasn't too happy about it."

"Why not?"

"Eric is over a thousand years old, Adele. Even for our kind that is quite a long time. You don't live that long by falling in love with a human. Already he had gone out of his way to help her when he did not have to. She was a liability. Sookie made him do things that he would have done for no one else. She was his one and only weakness and, above all else, he feared what would happen if he lost her. He feared the pain that it would cause him. He feared what others would do to her to get to him. There were many things that he feared for your mother and he detested that fear. It took him weeks to sort it all out."

"And what happened when he sorted it all out?" Addie asked quietly.

"Nothing. Your mother left before they ever got a chance to talk things through. He was never given the chance to tell her how he felt."

Addie turned to Pam with wide eyes. "They never talked about it?" she asked in disbelief.

Pam shook her head. "No. This is the first chance he's ever gotten to speak with Sookie since then."

The two girls were quiet for a minute, taking time to gather their thoughts.

"We have to get them back together." Adele said certainly.

Pam grinned. "I was thinking the exact same thing."

~*~

"We have to go back to Florida this weekend." Sookie said later on that night. It was getting close to eleven and the girls still hadn't returned yet.

"Why?" Eric asked carefully, trying to maintain his temper.

"Adele's high school graduation is this weekend. I've been talking to the principal and he's agreed to let her walk during the ceremony. Its the last chance that she'll get to say good bye to her friends and I'm not going to keep that from her. Besides, with the move I haven't been able to afford a graduation present for her and I don't know if I will be able to for a while. Its the least I can do."

"You aren't going alone."

"I know. That's why I'm telling you. You've got to decide who you want to send with us."

"When are you leaving?"

"The ceremony is Friday, so we'll leave on Thursday and come back on Saturday."

"Good. Then I'll make reservations to fly out Wednesday evening. Finding a place to stay may be a little difficult."

"We're going to be staying with some friends of ours but there is a small hotel that you can stay in for the weekend."

"I doubt that this little hotel of yours would be what we consider vampire friendly." Eric said dryly.

"No, but its better than sleeping in a cemetery." Sookie countered.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." He countered.

The two stared each other down for a brief moment before the sudden ringing of a cell phone interrupted them. Too Sookie's surprise it wasn't some creepy gothic ballad or ancient hymn that Eric had set as his ringtone. Instead it was some poppy satire about vampire bars. Sookie would have bet money that it was Pam's doing.

Too busy being amused by Eric's ringtone Sookie didn't pay attention to the brief conversation that he had with whoever was on the other line. For a minute she didn't even realize that he had started talking to her again.

"What?" she asked as she snapped out of her amusement.

Eric gave a brief sigh of annoyance. "That was Pam. She and Adele are catching a late movie before coming home. Your daughter would have called but her phone is dead."

"Oh." Sookie looked at the clock again and wondered what kind of movie would be playing this late. She really wanted Adele to come home before three in the morning, but as long as her daughter was having fun she wouldn't demand her home any earlier. "She and Pam really seem to be hitting it off."

"Yes. Its been a long time since Pam has become so attached to a human, almost twenty years."

Sookie sighed a little. Great, now not only did she feel bad about leaving Eric and Bill without saying anything, now she had to feel guilty about Pam too. At least Pam hadn't given her a hard time about it. Yet.

"Of course, it helps that Addie is closer to her age, appearance wise anyway. Pam has been in need of a playmate. She's been quite sulky these past few years."

Sookie gave Eric a disbelieving look. It was hard to believe that Pam could ever be sulky.

"Its true." He went on to say. "Without anything to tease me with she had a hard time amusing herself. She became a lot colder than normal as she became even more bored."

"Well I'll have to apologize to her for not being around to keep her amused." Sookie said darkly.

"Sookie, you are the one that left. Don't act as though we are the ones who did anything wrong."

"I know I'm the one who left Eric! I know it and I've said that I'm sorry! I'm tired of everyone trying to make me feel guilty about it."

"No one is trying to make you feel guilty Sookie. You are doing that all on your own. We are simply telling you the truth. If you can't face it that's your fault, not ours."

The two of them seethed in silence for a minute, glaring each other down with as much anger as they could muster. Sookie was the one who broke first.

"Get out." she said coldly.

"What?" Eric asked in indignant astonishment.

"I said get out!" Sookie yelled at him, pointing towards the door. "You can keep watch from outside."

Eric's cold eyes were as frosty as ever. He stared her down the entire way out the door. He didn't look away until he walked out onto the porch, slamming the front door behind him. When he was gone Sookie sat back down on the couch and cried herself to sleep.

~*~

It was almost three hours later before Pam and Adele came driving down the graveled driveway. The two girls were laughing and singing along with the radio as they parked in the front yard, but their cheerfulness came to an abrupt halt when they saw a very angry Viking sitting on the porch swing.

"Uh oh." They said in unison.

"Mom must have kicked him out." Adele sighed as she unbuckled herself and began to gather her shopping bags.

"I'm sure he did something to deserve it." Pam commented as she began to get out of the car.

"I can hear both of you." Eric called gruffly, making both girls wince.

Bags in hand Pam and Adele made their way up to the porch.

"Sorry about Mom." Adele said sheepishly as she searched through her purse for her keys. "She can have a pretty fierce temper when she wants to."

Eric gave a small, bitter laugh. "Child this is not the first time I have been on the receiving end of your mother's temper. And I highly doubt this will be the last."

"You probably deserved it too." Pam commented as she looked her master over.

"I did not. I simply told her not to blame us for telling her the truth about what life was like after she left." Eric explained.

Addie and Pam looked at each other and then back at Eric. "You deserved it." They informed him.

"Mom already feels like shit for the what she did." Addie began to explain as she opened the front door and motioned for them to come inside. "She might not regret leaving but she does regret not telling all of you first. She's punishing herself enough, you don't have to do it for her. You're right that she does need to know what it was like without her around, but you don't have to rub it in her face."

"I didn't rub it in her face." Eric said.

"Apparently you did, since she kicked you out." Pam commented. When Eric turned and gave her a hard look she just smiled humbly and added "Master" as sweetly as she could.

Adele walked into the living room and turned on a lamp before disappearing down the hallway to her room to deposit the spoils of the evening, leaving the two vampires in the empty room.

"But she didn't rescind your invitation, that's a good sign." Pam said as they waited on the younger Stackhouse to return.

"Only because she knew that I would need to enter quickly should something happen to sneak past me and get into the house."

"Yes, I'm sure that's the reason why." Pam said sarcastically but didn't elaborate further.

"Where is my mom now?" Adele asked as she came back into the room, now dressed in bright green pajamas with yellow bunnies on the shirt and a carrot at the bottom of the capri bottoms.

"In bed. After she fell asleep on the couch I came in and took her to her room."

Adele and Pam exchanged small smiles. "Can I get you a blood, Eric? Mom has kept the fridge stocked." She offered a moment later.

"No thank you. I'm fine for the moment."

"Alright. Well Pam said she'd help me put up my clothes so I guess we're going to be back in my room for a while. You can stay in the house if you'd like. You can watch TV or do whatever." Addie shrugged before yawning a little. The late hour was beginning to get to her.

"Thank you, Addie, but I think I'll sit outside and enjoy the night air." Eric said, making sure to give her a grateful smile.

"Suit yourself. Pam, you coming?"

Pam began to follow her but caught a slight signal from her master to wait. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay." She said before walking back off to her room.

Eric waited for Adele to enter her room before he confronted his childe. "What are you planning, Pam?"

Pam looked up at him innocently. "Why Eric I don't know what you mean. All I wanted to do was take Adele out for a fun night on the town since she knows no one here. And since she is so tired I thought I'd help her pack the clothes away so she can get to bed earlier. I'm not trying to take her to bed, if that's what you are thinking. She's still a minor."

Eric snorted. "Actually, she's not, but that's not what I meant."

"You're being paranoid Eric. You think everyone is out to get you, even me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to put Sookie Jr. to bed." Pam said before she began to walk out of the room.

Eric reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. "I'm going to be gone this weekend to escort them back to Florida Adele's graduation. I trust you'll be able to take care of Fangtasia by yourself."

Pam smiled. "Of course, Master. How long will you be gone?"

"Three days. And I want a pool installed as well. It needs to be completely finished before we return Saturday night. Money is no object."

Pam's smile grew even wider. "I'll make the arrangements tonight."

"Good. Now go so the girl can get some sleep. You kept her out longer than you needed to tonight." Eric told her.

Pam gave him a little bow and disappeared down the hallway. Eric stood silent and stoic for a moment, regarding the room with little emotion. He had many memories of this room, some good, some bad, but all of them with his Sookie.

* * *

Okay, I know this took me forever to write and I'm sorry. I had a huge block for almost a week, added onto several other things going on and this story just got put on the back burner. But I'm glad that I've finally been able to finish it.

But I really want to thank everyone who wished me luck with my family ordeal. I really do appreciate your understanding. My family will always come first and I'm glad to know that all of you understand that.

I also have some amazing news! I got to meet Charlaine Harris over this past weekend! It was the best moment of my life! Lol! I'll add the story to my profile so you can check that out and read. Also, I've added a chapter status updates there as well so you can check out the progress of the chapters. I try to update it every time I work on chapters so you'll be as caught up as I am.

Thank you SEOrwin for being a great beta!

Reviews make Eric want to do romantic things.


	7. Chapter Seven

"What is the purpose of this graduation again?" Eric asked as he fastened a tie around his neck. He abhorred ties with a passion and avoided them whenever possible. The fact that it was pastel made him hate it even more. No doubt this was Pam's doing.

Sookie was busy fastening in her earrings and checking herself over one last time in the mirror. "Its a ceremony to celebrate the class' achievement of making it successfully through the basics of their schooling. Now most of them can go off to college to take more specified classes depending on what career they want to pursue."

"So it's like a coming of age ceremony?" Eric asked carefully as he tried to wrap his mind around the concept of celebrating something so insignificant. But, when your lives are as short as a human's, every little milestone was cause for celebration. At least, that's the way that things seemed to be playing out these days.

"Well, yea kinda. It's the end of their childhood. Most of them are going to be moving away from home and heading out into the world on their own for the first time." Sookie said. She was amazed how spot on Eric's comparison was. That would be good to mull over on the flight back to Bon Temps on Saturday.

"Is that why it was so important that Adele 'walks'?" He asked again, the term rolling awkwardly off his tongue. He was definitely a curious kitten tonight.

"For her, yes. She's been looking forward to this day for the past four years. Plus this is the last time that she'll get to see a lot of her friends for a while. I didn't want to take that away from her." Sookie looked herself over one last time in the mirror before turning to Eric. "Ready?"

Eric smiled and offered her his arm. Sookie accepted it, looping her arm through his and letting him escort her from the room.

* * *

The graduation ceremony didn't last very long. There were all the formalities that every graduation has. The Mayor, the principal, and the valedictorian all made speeches about how far the class had come and how far they had yet to go. It made Sookie horribly reminiscent of Adele's childhood. Her baby girl really was growing up ever so fast. She was glad that Eric didn't say anything about her watery eyes and only handed her a tissue from his pocket. It made her laugh. Was she really so weepy that even Eric had learned to come prepared?

But with only a class of around a hundred students the actual process of handing out diplomas did not last long. Two hours after they had arrived and taken their seats the program was over. The students had gathered at the center of the field and with one last speech they all threw their hats into the air to celebrate their freedom from adolescence.

Slowly the stadium began to empty as proud parents and families spilled onto the field to congratulate their grads. Eric and Sookie were standing close to the track when Adele ran up to them and threw her arms up around her mother's neck.

"I did it! I did it! I did it!" she chanted happily as she let go of her mother's neck. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm so proud of you Adele." Sookie said with a brilliant smile. It was the happiest Eric could ever remember seeing Sookie.

"I'm kinda proud of me too." Adele laughed. It was obvious that she was trying to avoid the mushy stuff.

"Congratulations Adele. Your mother explained to me that this is a rather big deal." Eric told her when the two women had calmed down.

"Thank you Eric. I know that must have been pretty boring for you to sit through." Addie said with the same smile.

"Actually I found it rather interesting. Pam will want to hear all about it when we get back."

Addie laughed a little. She has already planned on telling her vampire friend about it when they returned to Louisiana. But for now he had other friends whose company she wished to enjoy. "Everyone is going down to the beach for the after party. It's alright if I go, isn't it?" She asked her mother.

"Of course. Go have fun. You're going home with Kate tonight right?"

"Yup. A lot of the girls are sleeping over there tonight. I'll call you in the morning when we wake up."

"You mean in the afternoon?" Sookie teased. "Just remember we have to leave at five."

"Yes 'em." She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and waved good night to Eric before running off into a crowd of her friends.

Sookie watched her go with sad eyes. But at least she hadn't really started crying.

"So now what do we do? Return to the hotel room and wait for her to return?" Eric asked as he led them back to where they parked.

"Would you like me to show you were I've been for the past few years? The house isn't too far from here."

"I'd like that." Eric agreed with a smile.

He opened the door for her and Sookie slid in, glad that they Eric had been picky enough to get a rental car so they didn't have to fly or walk everywhere. It's not like it was uncomfortable out, but walking around the entire city could have gotten annoying quickly, especially in heels.

She directed him through a neighborhood a few miles away from the high school. Sookie kept watch out the window as they passed by all of the familiar, well manicured lawns. She knew the residents of every house hold. They were the other family that she was leaving behind. The people that had helped her raise her daughter.

"Slow down." She told him as they slowly drove down one lowly lit street. Her eyes were focused on one small white house with a for sale sign posted in the front yard. Eric did as she said and slowed down and pulled into the empty drive way.

"This is it. Its not Gran's but its been home for a long time." Sookie explained as she looked into the night at the small white house. It was two stories but so small that it couldn't be big enough to house more than two people. The front door was painted blue and the porch extended several feet into the yard. It looked cozy, with beds full of flowers blooming all over.

"It looks like you." Eric commented.

"Addie used to keep a easel out on the porch to paint. She's always loved to paint, ever since she was little. I'm glad that she has a talent that isn't supernatural."

"To the contrary. She doesn't really seem to have quite a talent for her supernatural powers at all." Eric chuckled. If he had not been so angry the night she disappeared he would have laughed at her return.

Sookie gave him a very unamused glance. "I did my best to try and teach her _not_ to pop in and out like that. Claudine wanted to teach her how, but I didn't want Addie to become dependent on her magic. I wanted her to know some semblance of a normal life. But you see how well that worked out."

Eric reached out and gently placed his hand on Sookie's cheek, turning her to face him. "Sookie, you are not to blame for this. You have done everything you can to protect your daughter. While I'm not happy about it, I can respect your reason for leaving. And now that you are back I'm going to do everything that I can to protect both of you."

Sookie smiled. "Thank you Eric. I know you don't owe me anything, that's why I'm glad you agreed to do this for me. For us."

Eric said nothing. He continued to look at her for a minute more before looking back to the windshield at the house. "Was there somewhere else that you wanted to show me?"

"Only if you want to; I mean we can drive around and then I can point out different things to you. Or we could just drive down to the beach. The kids are only going to be in one spot and not a lot of people go down at night."

Eric snickered. "Why Sookie, if I didn't know better I'd say you were trying to get me alone somewhere." He purred slyly, mischief gleaming in his eyes.

Sookie just rolled her eyes. "We are already alone. If I wanted you really alone I would have said lets go back to the hotel. I just thought you would like to see the beach. Its really lovely at night."

"It has been a long time since I've been near the ocean. I suppose a short visit couldn't hurt." Eric smirk as he put the car in reverse and pulled out of the driveway.

Five minutes later they had parked the car and were taking the small path out onto the moonlit waters. They had abandoned their shoes in the car and elected to walk barefoot through the sand. There was nothing more annoying than having sand in your shoes.

It was a peaceful night; the sky was clear and the moon was nearing its full stage. The roar of the waves as they crashed against the shore helped to dull out the music and noises of the party going on further down the beach. For a brief moment the two stood at the bottom of the dune and just watched as the water retreated back into the ocean only to come storming back a moment later.

As they watched their hands found each other and their fingers intertwined. Without looking at one another they began to walk down the beach, taking their time to enjoy the scenery. It was easy not to talk but to let the night do the talking for them. They were both buried deep in their own thoughts.

After walking in silence for five minutes Eric pulled them to a stop as he looked out at the dark ocean. "I had forgotten just how beautiful the water is in the moonlight." He said softly.

Sookie looked up at him and felt her heart flutter for a moment. It had been a long long time since she had seen the Viking bathed in moonlight or noticed just how brightly he shined. He really was beautiful.

She looked down at their entwined hands and felt herself frown. He was still just as she had left him eighteen years ago, sex on two legs. His arms were still strong and his shoulders just as broad as they had ever been. When he wore a t-shirt it still stretched out just perfectly.

But she wasn't the same. Every morning she woke to find that her skin was just a little more looser than it used to be and her hair was loosing its glow. The bags under her eyes were darker and the body that had once been so well toned now was starting to fill out in several unwanted places. While it was true that she didn't look as old as she was she knew that she no longer had the beauty of her youth.

Obviously their bond was regaining its strength because a moment later Eric was looking down at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Seeing you reminds me of how old I am. Its been nearly twenty years. I'm old Eric. Every morning I wake up and I find a new wrinkle! I've been plucking white hairs for years now. I'm almost fifty. Another twenty years I'll be like my Gran was. I just hope I can do half the things she was doing at her age."

Eric frowned slightly as he cupped her face in his hands. "Sookie, your looks aren't the reason that i fell in love with you. I love you for who you are and everything that you believe in. No matter how many decades past that pars of you will never change. You will always be the same Sookie."

Sookie could feel herself smiling at his words. But despite the tender message it was his admission of love that took her by surprise.

"Did you really love me Eric?" She asked him quietly, almost afraid to hear an answer. This reminded her of a night so many years ago when they had confessed their feelings for each other. It wasn't quite love then, but something close. Of course Eric's memory was absent at the time and once he regained it he didn't remember making the confession. It took him months to remember the few nights they had spent together. She'd left him before they'd ever had a chance to talk.

Eric's face steeled a little at her question and she could feel his resistance to answer it. She was about to tell him to forget it when she got the answer she had been hoping for.

"Yes, I did love you Sookie. I still do. I don't think there has ever been a time when I didn't love you. But, that being said, I don't think I can find it in myself to forgive you yet. I know that you had reasons for leaving but that does not excuse you from not saying anything. You could have told me Sookie. I would have done everything in my power to keep both of you safe."

A thousand stakes in her side couldn't have hurt her as much as his words did. Her heart sank into her stomach and she felt a part of herself die; the part that had always held onto some secret longing for the Viking that she was standing next to. But she couldn't blame him for his decision. In the years that followed her escape from Bon Temps she came to regret the way she had gone about it. After all of the bullets he had taken, the lies that he had told, the people he had killed, the least she could have done was left him a letter explaining the reasons why. He, of all people, deserved to know why she was abandoning him.

But she hadn't been thinking and this was her punishment.

"Eric you know I never meant to hurt you. I was so scared; I wasn't thinking. By the time I came to my senses I was already settled here. I was on my way to building a home for Addie and me. It was too late to turn back. I never meant to hurt you." She said again quietly. Amelia's voice began describing Eric's depression to her again. Sookie knew that was what Eric could not forgive her for. The pain that he could never admit he felt for a lowly human woman's departure. He had hurt more than he had expected. Apparently it was possible for a heart to break once it had stopped beating.

"I know Sookie. I know you did not do this on purpose, but the worst mistakes are made with the best intentions. I hold no grudge against you, but you understand that it will take time for me to be able to forgive you for what you have done." He spoke without emotion and Sookie knew that the time for healing for both of them would be long and hard. But she prayed that there would be a chance.

"I understand. And, until that time comes, I just hope that we can continue to be friends."

Sookie thought she saw the faintest of smiles tugging at the corner of Eric's mouth, but it was gone before she could be sure. "For now, yes. But our first priority is keeping Adele safe." He turned to look in the direction of the party going on further down the beach. "Are you sure she is in no danger there?"

"Oh yea, she'll be fine. Her best friend's parents are were-lions. Their pride is chaperoning the event. At the first sign of danger they'll act. Adele is practically their other daughter; they love her almost as much as I do." Sookie said certainly.

Eric seemed to accept that and turned away to stare down the rest of the abandoned beach. Silence fell between them again and it was only then that Sookie noticed that Eric was still holding onto her hand. She took that as a good sign. Forgiven or not there was still something there and she was just going to have toward working to gain it back.

"We still have much talking to do, you and I." Eric said a moment later as if he was reading her mind. "But this is neither the time or the place."

"I agree. After we get back home and get settled in then we can talk."

The Viking nodded his agreement and the two continued to walk hand and hand down the beach.

* * *

"There is something I should tell you before we make it back to your house." Eric said quietly as they drove down I-20 toward Bon Temps. They had flown back in to the Monroe air port and had only an hour drive left ahead of them.

"What?" Sookie asked, keeping her voice down too. Adele was curled up in the back seat catching up on the sleep that she had neglected to get the night before. She had barely been conscious as they got off the plane. It would be amazing if she even remembered getting back into Louisiana.

"While we've been away I've had Pam oversee the instillation of a pool in your backyard for Adele. I know what it feels like to be far away from your home. I thought having something familiar would help her feel more at home here." Eric explained without taking his eyes off the road.

If it was physically possible Sookie's jaw would have hit the floor. "You did what?!" Sookie exclaimed as quietly as possible. "Eric you didn't have to do that!"

"Yes, I did. After all, we have missed eighteen birthdays and this was her high school graduation. Isn't it customary to give the graduate a gift of some kind?" He asked with an amused expression.

Sookie just stared at him. She had spent all of Friday evening explaining the reasons behind graduations. How had he known that presents were involved?

"Besides, I wasn't the only one who went in on it. Pam is the one who has ironed out all the details and picked everything out. She was just as eager to do this as I was." Eric added as if sharing the blame would help him any.

"Well thank you, in advance. I'm sure she's going to love it."

"If she wakes up long enough to see it." Eric chuckled, looking into the back briefly where Addie was still snoozing.

"Oh I'm sure she will. It might take her a minute to figure out what she's looking at, but she'll notice it."

Eric smiled a little, pleased with her response. The drove in silence for the remainder of the trip, which wasn't long. When a vampire is driving trips that usually took an hour or more sped by. They were pulling up the winding drive way to the house only thirty-five minutes after they'd left the air port.

"Adele, honey, wake up. We're home." Sookie called into the backseat, giving her daughter a little shake.

Addie gave a muffled noise and whined a little before curling up even tighter. Sookie just rolled her eyes. "Addie, come on babe, you can't sleep in the car. Besides, I think there is a surprise waiting for you out back."

The girl rose a little at the mention of a surprise. She shuffled around and climbed out of the car a moment later and began to stumble alongside her mother toward the front door. Sookie unlocked the door and turned on the lights, followed closely by her daughter, who immediately sought out the couch to crash on.

Eric followed them in a moment later with their bags, setting them neatly on the floor. He gestured for Sookie to follow him as he led her to the back of the house. It was still dark in that part of the house so it took Sookie a minute to recognize that anything had changed. But a moment later Eric flipped on a light switch that hadn't been there before and Sookie gasped.

The entire back yard had been transformed. The back porch had been extended into a deck that surrounded a long, oval shaped pool. The clear water was glittering under the new spotlights that had been placed around the deck for optimal lighting at night. There were even potted plants scattered about the deck and two beach chairs that would be perfect for sun bathing.

"Oh Eric its perfect! She's going to love it! Thank you so much!" Sookie said with as much gratitude as her voice could convey.

"You're welcome but I did it for Adele. Like I said, I know what its like to be so far from home and know that you can never return."

"What are you two talking about?" Adele asked, her voice heavy with sleep.

"Addie, close your eyes quick!" Sookie said as she rushed over and held her hands over her daughter's eyes to make sure she wasn't peeking.

"What? Mom, what're you doing?"

"We have a surprise for you." Sookie told her, unable to keep the happiness from her voice. She couldn't wait for Adele to see this.

Eric held the door open as Sookie led the blind Addie outside. She moved her around to the front of the deck so that she got the full view of the pool before removing her hands. "Alright, open your eyes."

Addie's eyes blinked open and as soon as she saw the pool she froze. She stood staring at the pool in disbelief as a wide grin slowly began to pull onto her face. "We got a pool?" She asked her mother cautiously.

Sookie shook her head. "No, you got a pool. This is a graduation present from Eric and Pam."

Adele turned and looked at Eric, who was lingering in the background. She didn't say anything to him but instead launched herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck in an attempt to hug the life out of him. "Ohmigosh! Thankyou!Thankyou!Thankyou!Thankyou!Thankyou!" She chanted over and over again as she hugged him tightly.

Eric chuckled a little and patted her on the back. "You're very welcome, Adele. Really this was all Pam's handy work. I just supplied the credit card."

"Thank you soooo much!" Addie beamed as she let him go, but that didn't stop her from bouncing around and looking at the pool and everything else. She was certainly awake now.

Sookie followed after her to look at the newest add on to the old house. Eric began to follow them when suddenly he felt his cell phone buzzing in his pocket. In vampire speed he pulled it out and flipped it open.

"Yes?"

"Eric, its Charlotte, from Area Fifteen. How are you tonight?"

"Well. How are you and your sister?"

The female on the other end sighed. "We've been better. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I knew I needed to call you as soon as we confirmed it."

Eric's eyes narrowed and his voice instantly drew cold. "What is it?"

"It's Mattox Shelly. He didn't report in to us tonight as he is supposed to. We've searched his home and the surrounding area's but he's nowhere to be found. We're still searching but I believe you need to be on your guard. We think he's on his way to Louisiana. He's still after the girl."

* * *

I know its been a while since I've updated so I wanted to give y'all a little something extra. I think this is the longest chapter so far and it was definitely fun to write. I don't know how many people will agree with Eric's feelings with Sookie, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And I know this isn't as romantic as I promised, but I promise there is a reason for my madness! Everything is going to work out in the end. No worries.

I'll be starting work and school soon so I can't promise exactly when I'll be able to update again. But I've started working on Chapter 8 and Chapter 4 of A New Life. So we'll see how long this takes.

Reviews are love, as always!


	8. Chapter 8: Preview

So I know all of you were probably wondering if I was every going to update again, and some of you had probably given up all hope. But, I assure you, that I am back! Some personal problems followed by work and the end of season two rather sucked my inspiration dry which is I haven't really been able to update in so long. I'm back on track now, however, and decided that I should treat all of my dedicated readers to a little treat. I present to you a preview of chapter eight. Enjoy!

* * *

Lightning lit up her room as her heartbeat hammered in her ears. She didn't know why she'd waken up, she could only guess it was the storm outside. But now that she was awake she knew better. Her heart was pumping blood and adrenaline through her veins. The tips of her fingers were tingling, the same way they did when she was ready to pop off somewhere. Her body was in panic mode and she had no idea why.

She sat completely still in bed, every sense on high alert. Something was close, something that wasn't supposed to be there. And it was getting closer.

The adrenaline made her body shake in desperation. She wanted to run, wanted to scream, wanted to get away. But there was nothing to run from, not yet.

Her body told her it was getting closer. It was running now, it knew she was close. Her eyes were trained on the window, straining through the night and the rain to see anything. Her mind was screaming now, telling her to run, but it was too late. Fear had her frozen in place, she couldn't escape.

Another bolt of lightening lit up the yard, revealing it to be empty, save for the wind ravishing the trees. Slowly she began to will herself to calm down. There was nothing out there. She'd had a nightmare and was over reacting now that she was awake. Slowly she laughed at herself, she felt like some bad actress in a horror movie.

Another clap of thunder and bolt of lightening and her heart stopped.

"Hello Adele."

She screamed.

* * *

Yes, I know, short and sweet. But this marks just half of what chapter eight will cover, since I decided to combine eight and nine into one as a sort of apology for taking eight months to update. So far I have half of the chapter written and will probably have it posted this weekend, I promise.


	9. Chapter Eight

I do not own any of Charlaine Harris' characters. I'm simply borrowing them for my own sick pleasure.

* * *

Five minutes after his call from Charlotte, Eric had called every vampire from Shreveport to Monroe to raise the alarm. If Mattox had any intention of coming to Bon Temps he'd have to find another route, because all of northern Louisiana was ready and waiting.

"Sookie." He said quietly over an hour later. They were safe for now, as long as he was there; he saw no reason to raise the alarm.

"He's coming, isn't he?" She asked softly, not bothering to raise her eyes from the place that they were looking. She already knew what it was that he was going to say.

"Yes. They recently lost his scent. He won't be here soon, but they do believe he is coming. I've already begun to make calls. Pam is on the phone with Russell now, but I can't promise any help from him. After all, this isn't his battle."

"How long do you think it will take him?"

"A few days, at least. He has a lot of ground to cover, even if he is driving. He'll have to stop at dawn everyday and he might have to search for places to stay."

Sookie sighed heavily and sank her head into her hands. "I don't know how I'm going to tell her. I promised her she'd have nothing to worry about once we moved."

"We don't necessarily have to tell her." Eric offered slowly.

"Are you suggesting that we lie to her?" Sookie asked sharply, turing to look at him with hard, disbelieving eyes.

"Not lie, just withhold the truth for a little while. She is happy here and there is no need to upset her. After all, he might not even get this far. There is no need for her to know, not now anyway."

"And when he shows up on our doorstep what am I supposed to tell her?" she hissed.

"He won't show up on your doorstep Sookie. Not without going through Pam and I first."

"Don't make promises like that for Pam. You can't force her to fight for us."

"Sookie she would fight for you and your daughter even without my orders. You should know this by now."

Sookie looked at him for a minute longer before lowering her gaze to the floor. She sat in silence, thinking about all of her options before she finally made her decision. "Fine. For now we will keep it between us. But, if anything happens, if he gets anywhere near here we will tell her."

"Agreed. But I promise you he won't get anywhere near this place."

"I know."

In the nights that followed both Eric and Pam came to the house, keeping each of the Stackhouse women company. Eric and Sookie found themselves more than once sitting on the couch watching something on TV while Pam and Addie had girl time back in her room. The female vampire made sure to bring plenty of things to occupy them since she was no longer allowed to take her young friend out on the town.

The first night was a traditional girls night. Nails were painted, hair was brushed and styled. Magazines were flipped through and music was shared. It amazed both of them how much their musical taste matched. Surprisingly enough Pam had quite a taste for punk and rock and Adelle was quite fond of classical; and both absolutely adored the woman simply known as Gaga.

It wasn't until a week later that a song sparked a conversation that had been brewing in the back of both their minds. The slow, romantic lyrics that popped up on Addie's laptop made her think of her mother and the viking sitting in the living room.

"My mom and Eric really loved each other, didn't they?" She asked suddenly without looking up from where Pam was painting her toes a bright shade of pink.

Pam paused for a brief moment before returning to painting even strokes. "Yes, they did. Neither one of them would have admitted it back then. Even if your mother had stayed here I don't think they would have ever said anything to one another."

"But why not? Its so damn obvious. I mean, hell, they are cuddling on the couch right now!" Adelle said.

"Shh!" Pam chided instantly. Reaching over she turned up the volume on the laptop before speaking again. "We don't want him to hear you."

"And turning up the volume doesn't make it obvious?"

"It might be obvious that we are talking about something, but he won't know what."

"Won't he just make you to tell him later?"

"No. He might ask but he would never make me tell him. That's the kind of man that he is. No matter how badly he wants something he knows that you get no where by forcing people to do things, or feel things for that matter. That's why, even if he had known he reason, he would have still let your mother go."

Adele seemed to sit on that for a while, turning the thoughts over in her head. Pam could see the wheels in her mind churning, thinking over something important.

"We need to get them back together Pam. This is the first time I've seen my mom happy, truly happy, in who knows how long. I don't want her to loose it again, especially not on my account."

For a brief moment Pam actually looked surprised. She thought she had come to know the young Stackhouse rather well, but she would have never guessed those feelings were brewing beneath the surface.

"Adele, you couldn't possibly blame yourself for what happened. Your mother made her decision on her own, because she wanted to do what was best for you. That is just how much she loves you."

"And now its time for me to prove just how much I love her." Addie said with a defiant gleam in her eye that Pam knew all too well.

"Trust me, my dear, I'm sure she knows that already. Now tell me what you have in mind."

Sookie looked up slightly when she heard a slight yell from her daughter's room, followed quickly by the raised acoustics of that female singer who she hated so much. The woman was weird, but Sookie guessed that was the draw; at least that was why he daughter liked her so much.

"They are talking about us you know." she said as she turned her attention back to the TV, resting her head back on Eric's chest.

Eric chuckled a little. "You don't say?" he replied with a grin as he continued to trail his fingers through her hair. Originally they had started on opposite ends of the couch, as they did every night. And, like every night before this, they somehow found themselves wrapped around the other. It made him happier than he had been in a long time.

Sookie just rolled her eyes at his sarcastic remark. "Can you hear what they are saying?"

"Why, my darling Sookie, are you suggesting we eavesdrop on our darling little girls?" He asked with an even wider grin. It was so easy for him to think of this as his makeshift family.

"No," Sookie replied matter-of-factly, "I'm just asking if you can hear anything other that ridiculous music of theirs."

"Unfortunately no, I can't. Our hearing might be good, but I don't think there is a creature alive that could hear over that high pitched racket they are listening to."

"You don't like that Gaga woman either I take it?"

"Not at all. Ever since Pam heard her gambling song on the radio she's been obsessed. I haven't heard a decent piece of music in ages."

"At least they aren't listening to rap."

"Pam has already been warned that if she brings that into my bar she will find herself without a maker."

A sharp laugh rang from Sookie's lips. "That's almost exactly what I told Adele."

The two of them shared a laugh before settling into a comfortable silence again, focusing their attentions back to the movie they were watching. It was some romantic comedy that they had stumbled upon while flipping through channels and with nothing else on it was all they had to settle for. Personally Eric wasn't paying much attention, rather watching the woman resting against him from the corner of his eye. It was like they were twenty years in the past. Things were as they should be.

_'Not exactly love.' _He remembered the words from so long ago, words that had taken him too long to remember. But he knew it was more than that now, the day she left he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he had loved the human more than he had ever loved anyone before.

Leaning down he placed a gentle kiss on the crown of her head, causing her to look up at him and smile. Their eyes connected and Eric knew that she was thinking the same thing. He smiled back down at her for another moment before they both slowly turned their attention back to the TV.

The nights continued to pass uneventfully as the last until nearly two weeks had gone by. Their strange family bonding time became something of tradition. They had even attempted a movie night for the four of them, but, apparently, they all had different taste in movies, and Twilight didn't fit into any of them.

Slowly the tension around the home eased too. The Stackhouse vampire guardians were no longer at their doorstep twenty minutes after dark, and now, more often than not, it was only one of them. With no immediate threat in sight Eric opted to let Pam stay at the bar (much to her and Addie's displeasure) while he stayed with the girls. No matter the combination things usually ended the same way, with Addie in her room and the adults in the living room.

It was on one such night, while they were sitting next to each other, that Eric noticed Sookie's skin was held more of a bronze tone to it that it had in recent weeks. "Is that a new southern tan you are sporting?" he asked as he lifted her arm up to examine it closer.

Sookie just laughed. "The beginning of one yes. Adele has spent every waking moment out by that pool and I can't resist joining her. Its nice to just spend some time together, especially now. Usually I was working when she got home from school so we never really got a chance to actually sit and talk. But now that all of this has happened I've tried to do more things with her. I know she doesn't always act like it, and having Pam helps, but I know she still misses Florida. That was her home after all."

Eric nodded his understanding, moving his hand to intertwine his fingers with hers. "She is a strong young woman, but I can't say that I'm all that surprised. You have raised her well Sookie, as I would have expected from you."

Much to his enjoyment blood rushed to Sookie's face, coloring her cheeks in a soft red blush before she looked away. Nearly twenty years had passed but in his mind she was still the same. Her youth still shown brilliantly in her eyes and she had lost none of her personality. He gave her hand a light squeeze, which she returned without hesitation.

"Not that its any of my business, but will you be able to afford to stay at home with Adele for a few more months without having any steady income?" Eric asked carefully a few minutes later. Her financial situation was one that had always been in the back of his mind when she was around before and now it was no different. He knew she wouldn't want to leave her daughter alone, but he wondered how she was going to pay the bills.

She turned to him in shock, examining him as though he had just confessed his undying love for Bill Compton and was planning on carrying their love child to term. Although he didn't show it, inwardly he shifted under her gaze. Apparently it had been a little too soon to bring up the finances.

"I apologize. I shouldn't have brought it up." he said softly.

"No no, its not that." Sookie said, still staring at him. "Its just...you admitted that it wasn't any of your business. I don't think I've ever heard a vampire admit that something wasn't their business."

Now it was Eric's turn to stare at her. He did so for only a brief moment before bursting into a laughter. "Well, to our credit, we vampires do learn a thing or two every few decades. Not much, but it gets us by." He said with a brilliant grin. Sookie just laughed with him until they fell into another comfortable silence before Sookie spoke up again.

"After we moved to Florida I told Niall I didn't want anymore to do with him or his kind. After all, he was the one who tricked me into sleeping with Preston. It was the worst feeling I'd ever had in my life, when I found out the truth. He at least had the decency to tell me himself instead of asking Claudine to do it. He realized that it would only make things worse if he stuck around. So he agreed to leave, but he made sure that we were well taken care of first. Since it was his fault I had to move. He bought the house, paid for the first few months of the bills, and all of the other expenses that needed to be covered to prepare for Adele to be born. Because of that I was able to squirrel some money away. There's enough here to keep us going for a while. Plus, before we left, a check came in the mail for fifty thousand dollars. I don't know who its from but I can only speculate its from Niall. He's the only person who would know about something like this and have that type of money to just give away."

Eric listened to her carefully, nodding his understanding. It certainly did sound like something like Niall would do.

"What about the fairy, Adele's father?" he asked carefully, unsure how sensitive she was bout the subject.

Sookie shook her head. "It wouldn't have been him. I've never spoken to him. I don't even know if he knows about her or not. A few times I wanted to ask Claudine but I figured it was for the best. He was under orders, he doesn't owe anything to me or to her."

"Adele is his daughter and you are her mother. Whether it was his intention to impregnate you or not he still owes it to both of you to be there, to support you. That is what fathers are supposed to do. And he also deserves to know that he has a daughter. I'm not saying that that responsibility lies on you, but Niall should have told him. After all, he was following orders." Eric said sternly with a cold look in his eye that Sookie knew wasn't directed at her. He was taking this personally.

"Besides, Adele is too special of a girl for him not to know about her." he added with a small smile.

"He said that!" Addie exclaimed with some excitement when her mother told her what Eric said about her the night before.

Mother and daughter were out enjoying the bright summer day. Adele was laying on top of her raft, drifting along the pool, soaking up the sun, while her mother copied her in one of the lawn chairs.

"Of course. Why wouldn't he?" Sookie asked as she looked at her daughter from over the top of her shades.

Adele shrugged a little. "I don't know. I always just got the feeling that he didn't like me very much."

Sookie couldn't help but laugh a little. "Adele of course he likes you! If he didn't why else would he be spending every night over here?"

Now it was her daughter's turn to stare at her mother. "Because he likes you. Come on Mom, don't play dumb. Nineteen years might seem like a long time to you, but its nothing more than the blink of an eye for a vampire."

"You've been spending too much time with Pam." Sookie said as she looked back down at her magazine, completely avoiding the topic.

"I have not! I haven't seen Pam in nearly a week! I'm getting bored." Addie pouted as she lay back to soak up the sun.

"And God forbid you get bored." Her mother teased.

Adele just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You know I'm right."

Sookie eyed her daughter briefly before returning to the book that she had left abandoned on her lap. Adele's words drifted in and out of her mind, mixing with her own thoughts and feelings. Maybe there was some truth to what her daughter had been telling her after all.

Her eyes drifted up again when she heard her daughter singing a familiar love song extremely off key. She was just trying to annoy her now. Out of the corner of her eye Sookie spotted on of the water guns that they had brought with them. As subtly as she could she reached out and grabbed the gun, aiming it at Adele when she knew the girl wasn't looking.

'Ready. Steady. Fire.' Sookie thought as she shot at her daughter.

Adele shrieked as the cold water hit her and instantly jumped up. Unfortunately, thanks to gravity and several of Newton's laws, she promptly flipped over. Sookie laughed as she watched her daughter flip up and swim toward the surface.

"That wasn't funny." Adele told her mother flatly as she tried to detangle her sunglasses from her hair. Sookie's only response was to keep laughing.

Sookie was in the kitchen that night when Eric appeared. He stepped up behind her, looking over her shoulder as she chopped ingredients and fed them into a giant mixing bowl. "What are you cooking?"

"A hamburger quiche with sauteed asparagus. It's Addie's favorite." Sookie replied calmly.

"Oh. Is there a particular reason why you are trying to get on your daughter's good side?" He asked with an amused smile.

"Well, I might have caused her to flip over in the pool today and ruin her tanning." She replied innocently as she pulled the browning meat from the stove to drain.

Eric laughed. "Dare I ask how you managed to do that?"

"I might have shot her with a water gun while she wasn't looking." Sookie confessed with a shrug, causing Eric to laugh harder.

"And why would you do a thing like that?"

Sookie shrugged again. "Do I really need a reason?"

The two laughed and continued to talk while Sookie finished cooking. Adele only appeared briefly, getting herself a plate of food and quietly saying hello to Eric before returning to her room. By the smile on her face, however, it was obvious to see that all of Sookie's grievances had been forgiven.

Things fell back into their usual pattern. Sookie ate her meal in the living room while she and Eric watched the season finale of a vampire reality show. Eric handed over a twenty dollar bill to Sookie when the winner was announced, although Sookie had a feeling he had known who was going to win all along.

The night slowly eased by with the two of them talking about old times, both dancing around the edges of the topic that neither of them were willing to admit to just yet. Things were still business, they would have time to take care of their personal lives later.

As a storm started to roll in Sookie turned down the volume on the TV so they could listen to the rain hit against the tin roof. It was a sound that she had always loved to hear.

"This is going to sound crazy, but I missed the rain. It was always so damn sunny in Florida." she confessed in a quiet voice as they sat back and listened to the storm.

Eric chuckled. "And here I thought that was the reason why you chose Florida."

"Yea, well, I never realized just how much I like storms too."

"Some people might take that as a metaphor. They might call you a little masochistic." Eric said with a small grin.

"Maybe I am. It sure would explain a lot."

Eric was about to say something further when he stopped, trying to listen to something. Sookie looked at him curiously and was about to ask what was wrong when he raised a hand to stop her. He continued to concentrate for a minute longer before he stood quickly.

"What's wrong?" Sookie asked, standing with him.

"Something is wrong with Addie." He said before turning and disappearing down the hall.

Lightning lit up her room as her heartbeat hammered in her ears. She didn't know why she'd waken up, she could only guess it was the storm outside. But now that she was awake she knew better. Her heart was pumping blood and adrenaline through her veins. The tips of her fingers were tingling, the same way they did when she was ready to pop off somewhere. Her body was in panic mode and she had no idea why.

She sat completely still in bed, every sense on high alert. Something was close, something that wasn't supposed to be there. And it was getting closer.

The adrenaline made her body shake in desperation. She wanted to run, wanted to scream, wanted to get away. But there was nothing to run from, not yet.

Her body told her it was getting closer. It was running now, it knew she was close. Her eyes were trained on the window, straining through the night and the rain to see anything. Her mind was screaming now, telling her to run, but it was too late. Fear had her frozen in place, she couldn't escape.

Another bolt of lightening lit up the yard, revealing it to be empty, save for the wind ravishing the trees. Slowly she began to will herself to calm down. There was nothing out there. She'd had a nightmare and was over reacting now that she was awake. Slowly she laughed at herself, she felt like some bad actress in a horror movie.

Another clap of thunder and bolt of lightening and her heart stopped.

"Hello Adele."

She screamed.

"Addie wake up! Adele!"

Addie's eyes snapped open and she stared ahead, looking for the man who had just been in her room. She paid little attention as her mother wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close. "Shh Adele, it was just a dream. You're okay. You're safe."

Her heart was racing and she swore the drumming in her ears was thunder. She looked around but the only vampire she saw was Eric. Even though he had his back to them she could tell he was on high alert. If she didn't know any better she would have sworn he had an axe in his hand.

"I saw him." Adele said as she looked back at her mom. "I saw him. He was standing at the end of my bed. He's coming, isn't he? Why didn't you tell me he was coming?!"

"Adele calm down, its okay. You're safe." Sookie assured her as she began to rock her daughter gently, smoothing her hair away from her face. "I promise you, you're safe."

She looked back at Eric and they exchanged a brief look that confirmed their fears, Mattox was back on the hunt.

* * *

I'm sorry this took longer than expected. I've started school and been having to deal with problems with my friends. I had intended to make this chapter much longer, but I think I'm going to extend it over another chapters as I had originally planned to. This was simply getting too long for me to keep up with and I fear I was coming up on another block. But don't worry, I still have plenty planned out for the next chapter, including lots of Eric/Sookie fluff.

As always read & review. And Happy Mother's Day to all of my readers!

~ Miss Southern Belle


	10. Letter to my Readers

To my dearest readers, I wish, first of all, to sincerely thank you for all of the support and love that you have shown for this story and its alternate A New Life. When I first had the idea I didn't think that it would be anywhere near as popular as it became. Having so many positive reviews helped encourage me to continue writing fanfiction as well as my own original stories. This was not a confidence that I ever had before.

Sadly, I regret to inform you that I won't be able to complete either of these two stories. The Next Life was greatly based on the experiences I had with my own mother growing up and the relationship that she and I had. But in June I lost that inspiration with my mother's sudden passing. It still remains a devastating blow to my life and is a wound that continues to fester, especially with Christmas just around the corner.

My mother was more than just the woman who raised me, she was my best friend. I trusted her with things that I could trust no one else with and always sought her advice. Now that she is gone I find myself extremely lost and completely alone, unsure of how to stand on my own two feet. I hope that you can understand how difficult a time this is for me as well as my family as we try to find a balance between remembering my mom and moving on with our lives.

While I did plan an ending for The Next Life, I hope that you can understand how hard it is to approach this story right now. One day I might be able to write on it again and continue Sookie and Adele's story, to use it to help me remember happy times with my own mother. But, as for now, I have no plans to continue. I apologize to all of my readers who were so eager to see this story finished.

Sincerely,  
Miss B


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